Lack of information irked O'Donoghue

The former Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, has said he was occasionally "annoyed" with the extent of information supplied to him by ex-Garda Commissioner, Mr Pat Byrne, on controversies such the Donegal affair.

In his first appearance before the tribunal, Mr O'Donoghue said he only gained "substantive knowledge" of events in the Garda Donegal Division in April 1999 when one of his assistant secretaries briefed him ahead of a parliamentary question the following month.

He said he was "extremely disappointed" by the allegations, and very anxious they would be "cleared up" for the benefit of the victims and the good name of the force.

Asked had there been any deficiency in reporting mechanisms between the Garda and the Department, Mr O'Donoghue replied that "from time to time", on "not numerous occasions", he was not informed of something, and he would communicate his annoyance over this to the Commissioner. Generally, he said, it related to "something that you might hear on the news in the morning that you might have been told of the night before".

The Minister stressed it was up to the Commissioner to assess whether a matter was important enough to relay to the Department, and only "very serious" matters would be communicated. It was also for the Commissioner to deal with disciplinary matters within the force, not the Minister.

Mr O'Donoghue was Fianna Fáil spokesman on justice between 1995 and June 1997, and thereafter Minister for Justice until June 2002, when he took over the Arts, Sport and Tourism portfolio.

He told the tribunal that, after learning of the allegations of Garda corruption in Donegal, he raised with Mr Byrne the issue of public confidence being lost in the force. While he could not recall a specific meeting on the issue, he said he would have discussed the internal Carty investigation into the allegations and his anxiety to have the inquiry report furnished as early as possible.

Discussions took place between his Department and the Garda over the Carty report. However, the Garda expressed the view that it constituted the "investigation file" and therefore was a matter for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

He said after the report had been sent to the DPP in May 2000, he had been "waiting for prosecutions to come" and assumed they would. Still "concerned and unhappy", he wrote to the then attorney general Mr Michael McDowell, asking were there circumstances he could progress a sworn inquiry without prejudicing criminal or civil proceedings.

Mr O'Donoghue said Mr McDowell advised that such proceedings should reach their conclusion first. This advice was given on the information available and without "the full Carty file".

The Minister said a parliamentary question tabled in November 2001 was "one of the catalysts" for his decision to get independent advice on the feasibility of a tribunal. Mr Shane Murphy SC was nominated to review matters, and, in January 2002, he submitted a report recommending terms of reference. Mr O'Donoghue said he spoke to the late Eamon Leahy SC about the prejudice issue. The barrister suggested it might be possible to hold some of the inquiry in private and some in public. Legislation for a tribunal was drafted on foot of this advice.

The Minister admitted it was "quite unusual" for a tribunal to be established to investigate such matters at a "considerable drain" on the taxpayer. He had hoped they would be resolved through criminal and civil proceedings or the Garda Complaints Board.

Mr O'Donoghue said he believed in due process, and in not taking action on basis of allegations. "I don't believe in cosmetic justice," he said. Mr Paul McDermott SC asked if the Minister believed another mechanism to a tribunal would have got at the truth. Mr O'Donoghue replied that he had decided to replace the complaints board with an independent inspectorate, adding that the Commissioner never spoke of need for new powers. "If anything, the Commissioner would say to me 'we have enough law'." The tribunal continues tomorrow.