Taoiseach defends Attorney General’s role in Callinan controversy

The Taoiseach has defended the role of Attorney General Máire Whelan in the events leading up to the resignation of former garda commissioner Martin Callinan.

Mr Callinan retired as commissioner in March 2014 after Ms Whelan briefed the Taoiseach on the taping of phone calls to and from Garda stations.

Speaking in the Dáil on Tuesday, Enda Kenny said Ms Whelan was quite justified in bringing to his attention and the attention of the public an extraordinary situation in which hundreds of thousands of phone calls to Garda stations were recorded unlawfully.

Mr Kenny said: “Who knows what would have been, or what might have been, in some of those phone calls?

Water charges: FF and FG pull together as report passes vote

---

You may have to buy a licence for your laptop

---

Coveney warns against ‘legally unsound’ water report

---

Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael do not want election over water

---

Referring to the Sophie Toscan du Plantier case, he added: "There was a woman murdered in west Cork and, in respect of phone calls made to a Garda station, this had a bearing on the setting up of a commission of investigation.''

The Fennelly commission, which examined the circumstances surrounding Mr Callinan’s resignation and the recorded phone calls, published its final report last week.

Mr Kenny said the Fennelly commission had been clear in its findings that the recording of certain calls was unlawful and unconstitutional, but did not interfere with any cases before the courts or those pending.

Decided to retire

Mr Kenny told the Dáil that the Fennelly commission also found that Mr Callinan had himself decided to retire.

He was replying to Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin, who said it was clear the "alarmist and over-reactive response of the Government forced the removal of the garda commissioner on the issue''.

Mr Martin said Mr Kenny had sent a senior official to Mr Callinan to tell him the Cabinet could no longer have confidence in him as commissioner following the revelations.

He said the Fennelly report had confirmed the only person to act appropriately on the issue was Mr Fennelly.

Mr Martin said the Attorney General had bypassed the then minister for justice Alan Shatter in relation to the taped phone calls and had gone directly to Mr Kenny to say "the heavens were about to fall and something needed to happen''.

He said it was extraordinary that the Attorney General would have bypassed the then minister in that context.