McCabe row: What Ministers say they knew and when

It will come as no great surprise that this Government does not act as a collective body. That has been greatly exposed this week with the treatment of Garda whistleblower Maurice McCabe.

What Minister knew what and when should not deflect from the smear campaign McCabe endured. And it should not be allowed to shift attention from Tusla or An Garda Síochána.

However, it is still important. The sequence of events are as follows.

– McCabe's wife Lorraine contacted the Department of Health on January 18th seeking to speak to the Minister to raise concerns she and her husband had with Tusla.

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– The office of Simon Harris told Mrs McCabe that the Department of Children oversees the work of Tusla and it called her to discuss matters the same day.

– A week later, on January 25th, Minister for Children Katherine Zappone called the Taoiseach and Tánaiste to tell them she was to meet with the McCabe family that very day.

– At the meeting they provided her with the Freedom of Information documents that showed the litany of errors that had been the subject of a smear campaign against McCabe. Zappone tells them Tusla will apologise.

– Eleven days later, on February 7th, the Tánaiste brings a memo to Cabinet confirming she would establish a commission of investigation into the campaign McCabe suffered.

Meeting

Nobody asked Zappone about her meeting with the man at the centre of the commission, and she never thought to raise it.

That is troubling. It is illogical.

– Two days later, on February 9th, it emerges that Tusla wrongly sent false allegations against McCabe to an Garda Síochána.

– The following day Zappone says she told relevant Government colleagues of her knowledge of the case. The Taoiseach and Tánaiste say they knew of the meeting but knew no more. They did not think to ask her how her conversation with the McCabe family went.

Hours later, Zappone claims she did not tell the Cabinet because it was too sensitive to discuss with them. She also had a few more issues to discuss with McCabe and his wife. Anyway the Minister was confident that Tusla would be part of the commission of investigation’s work.

The litany of errors could be perceived to be carelessness if it was one Cabinet Minister but to happen to three should be deadly. However, this is no normal administration.

Ideally, the Taoiseach would serve a head on a plate to a public baying for blood. This time it would be either his own; one of his closest political confidantes; or an Independent Minister keeping his Government afloat.

It will survive a motion of no confidence this week thanks to Fianna Fáil, who will abstain. But the consequences for this dysfunctional Government will linger.

New leader

Fine Gael

will begin its preparations for a new leader, whether the Taoiseach is ready or not. In fact Minister for Social Protection

Leo Varadkar

took it upon himself yesterday to urge calm among the party. Through the party’s WhatsApp group he confirmed he would return home from his trip with the President, Michael D Higgins, in Peru to be present for the debate in the Dáil on Wednesday evening.

Fianna Fáil will allow the Government to cling on to power for a while longer but the events of the last few days have exposed the serious dysfunction at the heart of the administration.

If this scandal takes any more twists – which cannot be ruled out – this accidental administration’s precarious hold on power will be tested to its absolute limits.