Independents4Change TD Clare Daly raised the matter of Judge Iarfhlaith O’Neill’s investigation into allegations made by Garda whistleblowers – which is due to be given to Ms Fitzgerald next week – and informed the Dáil that she and fellow TD Mick Wallace have met with six new gardaí who have, or are about to, make further protected disclosures.
During their exchanges, Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Feargháil interrupted to warn Ms Daly not to make allegations about Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan in the Dáil, as to do so would be “inappropriate”.
Readers may recall how Judge O’Neill is investigating protected disclosures which allege that, within the gardai, there was an orchestrated campaign to destroy the reputation of whistleblower Sergeant Maurice McCabe.
Former head of the Garda press office Superintendent David Taylor was one of the people who made such a disclosure and has claimed that he was following orders from senior gardaí.
Readers may also recall how it has been reported that, in February 2015, phones and a laptop belong to Supt Taylor were seized by Garda Commissioner Noirin O’Sullivan’s husband Det Supt James McGowan – two months before Supt Taylor was arrested for allegedly leaking information to a journalist in relation to a Roma child being taken into custody.
In addition, readers may note that, last Sunday, in the Sunday Business Post, Francesa Comyn reported:
Taylor’s solicitors recently wrote to Fitzgerald and Enda Kenny highlighting the “fundamental” need for Taylor’s mobile devices to be handed over to the inquiry for an independent forensic investigation. The court heard that the government has not responded to the letter.
Further to this…
Clare Daly: “Tánaiste, five weeks ago, you referred to very serious protected disclosures from two senior gardai to a retired judge Iarlaith O’Neill for urgent inquiry. Now, the disclosures which allege that the Garda Commissioner Noirin O’Sullivan was directly involved in a systematic and organised campaign to discredit the whistleblower Maurice McCabe, with colleagues, politicians, journalist, were due to be investigated by the former judge who’s due to conclude and report back next week.”
“Now, he was given no powers of compellability, no terms of reference. Attempts made by other whistleblowers to have their cases also heard, as they too are the victims of bullying and harassment since making protected disclosures, were ignored. Despite the fact that their testimony and their experiences are current, they get to the very heart of the systemic problems inside An Garda Siochana, that what’s said in public and done privately are two entirely different things.”
“Now it was hardly an auspicious start to the inquiry, given that was its foundation and you’d be forgiven for thinking actually that it was put together as a fig leaf, maybe for you to take cover behind, for your lack of action in this regard. Now that view has been strengthened but we now we find out that, with a week to go, to the issuing of his report, the former judge has not requested any material from either of the two whistleblowers, he hasn’t met either man. He hasn’t even spoken to either man. In fact, the only interaction, about two weeks ago was a request to their legal teams to pass on the protected disclosure to the Garda Commissioner. You couldn’t make this up.”
“What sort of an inquiry do you honestly expect us to believe that this is because while this has been going on, we’ve had the Garda Commissioner appear at the justice committee, with senior officers who are at the heart of many of the protected disclosure complaints. At the same meeting, the Garda Commissioner misled the committee by stating that she wasn’t privy to information about a campaign of harassment against any member of the force when she was actually in direct receipt of 14 occurrences and letters outlining precisely that situation. She’s been the subject of a detailed section 41 complaint which she’d been briefed on. We’re awaiting the GSOC finding and she’s lost the support of the ranks of that force, by intervening in a partisan way in their legitimate pay claim with her threats of martial law.”
“So, my question to you, Tanaiste, is why have you allowed this situation to continue to the crisis point that it’s at? On what basis do you believe that you have the right to delegate, to retired judges, GSOC and to the courts, functions that are your responsibility in law, namely to hold the Commissioner to account?”
Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl: “Tánaiste.”