State to investigate leaking of Government information

The State’s most senior civil servant is to head up an inquiry into the leaking of Government information.

Martin Fraser, the secretary general of the Department of the Taoiseach, is to lead the investigation, which will focus on the Mother and Baby Homes leak, but also the broader issue of unauthorised dissemination of material relating to the business of Government, Cabinet and Cabinet sub-committees, a Government source confirmed.

It follows a request from Roderic O’Gorman, the Minister for Children, for the Government to examine the source of the leak of information about the Mother and Baby Homes report to a newspaper last Sunday.

The report was launched today, but the leak was criticised by survivors’ groups and the Opposition.

The Irish Times view on the Mother and Baby Homes report: a culture of silence and shame

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Mother and Baby Homes: Now we must pay the price for our wilful silence

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Mother and Baby Homes report finds ‘rampant’ infant mortality, ‘appalling’ conditions for thousands

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Mother and Baby Homes report: Main findings and recommendations

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In a statement, a Government spokesman said: “The Cabinet agreed this morning that the Secretary General to Government will be asked to examine the leak of last Sunday.”

He has also been asked to examine the broader issue of unauthorised dissemination of documentation and other information related to the work of Cabinet sub-committees and the Cabinet.”