A GARDA Síochana Ombudsman inquiry has concluded gardaí have supplied sufficient information to the Department of Transport for the department to seriously reconsider the granting of an international haulage licence to a convicted drug dealer from Co Louth.
The finding has been made as part of a inquiry into the granting of a licence to Kieran Boylan.
When it emerged in April that Boylan had been granted a licence Opposition parties questioned how this could have happened, given his criminal record.
Some media reports suggested the Garda had provided a less-than-comprehensive report to the Department of Transport on Boylan’s convictions.
However, the ombudsman has now written to a number of stakeholders stating “the Department of Transport has sufficient information to give serious consideration to the appropriateness” of Boylan holding a haulage licence.
Fine Gael’s spokesman on justice Charlie Flanagan TD said yesterday in response to the ombudsman’s finding: “There are clearly serious flaws in the manner in which information was exchanged between the gardaí and the Department of Transport and Minister [for Justice Dermot] Ahern must address these flaws.”
Boylan (38), Rockfield Park, Ardee, was convicted on serious drugs charges in Ireland and the UK in 1997 and 2003.
He was caught in Ireland with €1.7 million of cocaine and heroin in 2005.
The charges were later dropped.
The ombudsman is investigating if the dropping of the charges was linked to Boylan allegedly being a Garda informer.