Minister accuses Bruton of con job

Minister for Justice Michael McDowell reacted angrily yesterday to claims made by Fine Gael deputy Richard Bruton that Garda numbers in Dublin had increased by only two in the past year.

Mr McDowell said Mr Bruton's use of Garda figures had misled the public and were a "con job on the media and grossly dishonest politics". He compared the politician to Nazi propagandist Dr Joseph Goebbels.

Mr Bruton denied misleading the public and said the figures he had used were based on those provided to him by the Minister.

At an impromptu press conference outside Buswell's Hotel opposite Leinster House yesterday, a visibly angry Mr McDowell said that the number of gardaí in the Dublin Metropolitan Region (DMR) had increased by 278 since 2002 and nationally by 700.

"Mr Bruton was at the cabinet table with Deputy Rabbitte and Deputy Kenny when the entire size of An Garda Síochána fell over three years consistently," Mr McDowell said.

"He is the man that has gone on public record in saying that families are paying more in tax now than when his disastrous government were in office. He is, I believe, the Dr Goebbels of propaganda."

He said Mr Bruton had deliberately suppressed the Government response to a parliamentary question put down in November 2005, which showed an increase of 101 in Garda numbers in the DMR from December 2004 to November 2005.

Pressed on exactly how many extra gardaí had been added to the DMR in 2005, he said that a "very considerable number of extra gardaí were attached".

Mr Bruton described Mr McDowell's reaction to his criticism as hysterical.

"He tried to pretend that I said something about numbers going down and he reacted to that. Attacking something I didn't say is a distortion. He reacted in a similar way recently to Deputy John Gormley.

"He comes across as a Minister who isn't absolutely in control of what he is doing. . . I used figures I received on March 1st, 2006, and May 2005. Between 2004 and 2005, figures for the DMR went up by two, from 3,740 to 3,742," he said. "That is the truth and there is no disputing it."