Fitzgerald says Gsoc is the correct forum for O’Higgins report concerns

Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald has told the Dáil there is understandable public concern at allegations that members of An Garda Síochána may have fabricated an account of a meeting to cause damage to a colleague.

She said that “whatever the reality of what actually happened”, Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan had rightly asked her to refer the issue to the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission.

Replying to the two-day debate on the O’Higgins report on Garda malpractice in the Cavan-Monaghan district, Ms Fitzgerald noted the comments in the debate about allegations at a meeting in Mullingar.

Claims were made that allegations, subsequently withdrawn, were made during the commission of investigation that Sgt Maurice McCabe admitted to two senior gardaí that he had acted with malice.

The Minister stressed the proceedings before the commission were, by law, confidential, “so I am not in a position to confirm or deny reports that have come into the public domain about parts of the proceedings because I properly have no knowledge of them”.

And she warned they had to be very careful “about regarding as established fact something reported to have happened at the commission, which is not referred to in Mr Justice O’Higgins’s report”.

She said Gsoc was the “appropriate forum to deal properly and fairly with this matter”.

Ms Fitzgerald also sharply criticised Independents 4 Change TD Mick Wallace, who in the Dáil named the two gardaí allegedly at the meeting with Sgt McCabe.

‘Pursuing justice’

The Tánaiste said it was “hard to reconcile the passion with which some deputies say they are pursuing justice with a blatant disregard for the rights of others. To campaign under the slogan ‘justice for all’ rings very hollow when set against using this chamber as some form of kangaroo court.”

Social Democrat TD Róisín Shortall said she noted Ms O’Sullivan’s statement the legal team was not instructed to impugn Sgt McCabe’s integrity or to make a case he was acting maliciously. “She then appears to admit that the legal team was instructed to challenge the credibility and motivation of Sgt McCabe. Much has been made of the distinction between integrity and motivation but in most people’s eyes questioning Sgt McCabe’s motivation is precisely the same as questioning his integrity.”

Cultural difficulty

Green Party leader Eamon Ryan challenged the culture of the Department of Justice, where he said “part of the problem resides”. The Minister “should look within her own department” and not just to the Garda Commissioner. He said he could pick “many instances in which the department was not fast, open or transparent in processing information”.

He said there seemed to be a “cultural difficulty” in the department and it ultimately “has to take responsibility for this”.