JOINT COMMITTEE ON EUROPEAN AFFAIRS debate -
Wednesday, 27 Apr 2005

Death of Irish National in Spain: Presentations.

Chairman

The first item on our agenda is a discussion on the action which the committee may take in regard to the death of an Irish national in Spain. We discussed the case of Daniel O'Callaghan in private session. He is an Irish citizen who died due to blunt force trauma as a result of an incident while on holiday in Gran Canaria in May 2003. Mr. O'Callaghan's family has expressed serious concerns about the investigation undertaken by the Spanish authorities into their son's death. The committee has been assisted in its considerations today by Mr.O'Callaghan's mother, Dr. Maeve Pomeroy, who I thank for coming here today. She is most welcome. I also welcome Mr. Denis O'Callaghan, Daniel's father, and his sister, Marie-Louise O'Callaghan.

The committee acknowledges the large number of Irish citizens who regularly travel on holidays to destinations in Spain and the strong links between Ireland and Spain that have developed over many years. However, the committee has expressed concern at some of the elements in this particular case and has noted some general issues that arise from it. It is our opinion that witnesses were not sought or interviewed by Spanish police and the scene was not cordoned off and examined forensically for evidence. Daniel's clothes were not examined, as should be standard practice. It took an investigation by the Garda Síochána to provide hard evidence and find a witness to the crime. Even after this evidence was presented to them, it is my understanding that the Spanish police were reluctant to treat the case seriously.

Concern has also been expressed at the highest levels of Government. For example, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has taken a personal interest in this case. He has met the family on a number of occasions. I welcome the Minister to the meeting. I appreciate that he has come here today.

I suggest that we raise the matter with the Spanish ambassador. The family is anxious that the committee would call for a meeting with the Spanish Minister for Justice. I propose that the committee would offer its support to the Minister for Foreign Affairs in his efforts to bring about a resolution to this matter. I also propose that the committee should endeavour to advance the adoption of minimum standards across the European Union in cases such as this.

It has been brought to my attention that a number of MEPs, Avril Doyle, Gay Mitchell, who set up the meeting, Liam Aylward, Mairéad McGuinness, Simon Coveney and Mr. Jim Higgins met with a representative of the Spanish Government today. They received some undertakings from the Spanish Government to which I will refer later.

We intend to ask the clerk to seek a briefing from the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform on victim's rights in the European Union. We may propose to deal with this matter at an assembly such as COSAC. I also propose that any consultant we take on in the next few weeks would produce a report on this area in consultation with victim support groups such as the European Forum for Victim Services. I believe a commission has been set up in that regard which we can consult.

Before I ask members to contribute, I invite the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy Michael McDowell, to give his impressions of this case. He is aware of the details as he has met with the family on a number of occasions. He has also been in contact with the Spanish authorities. I thank the Minister for attending.

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Deputy McDowell)

I thank the Chairman. The background to my involvement in this matter is that I am personally acquainted with Maeve Pomeroy. The first I heard of the situation regarding Daniel was when she contacted me from Gran Canaria indicating that he was in hospital on a life support machine. She asked me to render her certain assistance in regard to access to her son and issues of that kind. Subsequently, as the committee is aware, Daniel unfortunately died. On the return of the family to Ireland, Dr. Pomeroy acquainted me with her deep unhappiness with the way in which the inquiry had been conducted. I will not go into the detail now, save to say that if a similar situation had taken place in Ireland I am absolutely confident that a radically different approach would have been taken by the investigating police.

The inquiry carried out by the Spanish police did not have what we would call a comprehensive character. It was an inquiry in which little or no effort was made to establish if there were any witnesses to the event and very obvious techniques such as inquiring about the identity of people who were in a position to give first-hand evidence of the incident were not carried out. From Dr. Pomeroy's inquiries in the matter, she had some indication that there were people who had information to give and she placed that information in the hands of the Garda Síochána who carried out a very extensive inquiry among Irish holiday makers who had been in Gran Canaria. Officers were sent to Gran Canaria to look at the scene. They came up with what would be considered first-hand evidence of the circumstances in which Daniel's death occurred. In the Spanish system, an examining magistrate's court takes over control of an investigation of this kind. Dr. Pomeroy was told a provisional decision had been made to close the inquiry because there were insufficient grounds for keeping it open. In my capacity as Deputy in Dr. Pomeroy's constituency, I raised on a number of occasions my and her complete dissatisfaction with the Spanish Ministry for Justice. After some considerable delay, the Spanish embassy in Dublin eventually became involved.

The circumstances that now obtain are such that Dr. Pomeroy has appealed the provisional order closing the inquiry. However, that provisional order was confirmed on appeal. The Spanish authorities indicated recently that proceedings taken by the examining magistrate's court into the death of Daniel Paul O'Callaghan were provisionally suspended by virtue of the decree dated 16 March 2004, this suspension having been confirmed by the second section of the provisional court, Las Palmas, by decree dated 30 September 2004. The last sentence of its statement states that the investigation will be continued by the judicial police, Maspalomas, to clarify the facts. As far as I can see, the file remains closed in the hands of the examining magistrate's court.

Chairman

May I interrupt the Minister? Members should note that since we issued our agenda on Friday, the Spanish authorities contacted the family and made it clear that they will reopen the case. I will let Dr. Pomeroy explain this in her own words. The Minister has given his interpretation of the court ruling. Perhaps this committee should ascertain the exact undertaking given by the Spanish authorities and determine how exactly the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform interprets the statements made to the family in recent days. This is very important. The group of MEPs who met a representative of the Spanish Government today in Brussels asked two questions, the first of which was whether there will be a full investigation into Daniel's death. The representative replied "Yes".

If the committee agrees, we will ask the Spanish ambassador to attend this committee to clarify the undertaking of the Spanish Government as well as the other issues Dr. Pomeroy will raise, namely, the lack of an investigation in the first place and the type of activities in which the police in Gran Canaria engaged.

Deputy McDowell

I am grateful to the Chairman for making that point. The assertion that the investigation will be continued by the judicial police, Maspalomas, to clarify the facts is not, to my untutored mind — I do not understand the intricacies of Spanish criminal procedure — the same as saying the examining magistrate has decided to reopen the case.

Chairman

We will have to find out the facts. Before I ask members to contribute, I will ask Dr. Pomeroy to address the committee.

Dr. Maeve Pomeroy

I thank the Minister and the committee. It is two years to the day since our son's lethal injury. It is our heartfelt wish that Daniel, who tragically lost his life in Gran Canaria, will be accorded in death the dignity of humanity and his right under Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights to an appropriate investigation into his death. We would like to see an investigation into the death and an investigation into the failure to conduct such an investigation over a two-year period. It is also timely to have a review of the policing of the Playa del Inglés area. This is an important public safety issue because it is an area marketed for the younger tourist.

Several people contacted me after the publicity surrounding Daniel's death and told me about violent incidents and attacks on their families and the failure to investigate them appropriately. As recently as three weeks ago, a young Norwegian was stabbed in the same area and died. Very worryingly, he had been the subject of a violent attack in the area some days previously. Last Friday, I received a phone call from the mother of a 19 year old who had money extorted from him in the clubs where Daniel had been. He had been threatened and frightened. This incident occurred on 19 March 2005. There are important public safety issues to be addressed in addition to conducting the investigation into Daniel's death.

Chairman

I will open the meeting to members.

Deputy Allen

I extend my sympathy to the O'Callaghan family on their sad loss. No matter what we do, we will not be able to bring Daniel back, but, as Dr. Pomeroy said, we can afford him the dignity of having the matter investigated adequately.

A tragic death can happen in any Irish city or town, just as it can happen abroad. The major difference in the case in question seems to be the total indifference of the police to Daniel's death and the other incidents mentioned in the two programmes broadcast by RTE, which we saw earlier in private session. There seems to be a high level of indifference on the part of the Spanish authorities at diplomatic level regarding the tragic death of Daniel and other incidents. I agree that we should meet the Spanish ambassador. We would all support the Chairman's proposal in that regard.

Chairman

We cannot compel him to attend but we will invite him to do so.

Deputy Allen

We will invite him to attend and, in the interests of addressing the injustice that was done, the ambassador should accept our invitation. I hope such a meeting can be convened sooner rather than later. I am surprised the ambassador has not contacted the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, whom I thank, to deal with this matter on a one-to-one basis. I find this very strange.

Deputy McDowell

There was correspondence between us.

Deputy Allen

Some contact should be made between the embassy and the Minister. The effective action the Chairman has outlined should be taken immediately. We all know of incidents that have happened abroad and we are all fearful when our own families go abroad. The aforementioned incidents make it even more worrying. I note the families involved want a protocol to be put in place for families who find themselves helpless when a tragic incident occurs.

We, like the Minister, feel relatively helpless when we are contacted about tragic incidents abroad. We have emergency lines and contacts to make. A general protocol should be established that would be known to the public. Thus, in tragic circumstances, such as the death of Daniel, there would be legal, financial and important emotional supports for the families involved when they go abroad to pick up the pieces and deal with their tragedy. Perhaps it could be communicated to the Minister for Foreign Affairs that a protocol should be put in place that would be known to the public.

Chairman

What is the family seeking from the committee? What should we be doing? What should the Government be doing? How should we proceed?

Dr. Pomeroy

I thank the committee for giving us the opportunity to speak. We appreciate the help we have obtained from the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and the Garda Síochána. We note that the mission statement of the Department of Foreign Affairs includes the protection of its citizens abroad and we would welcome an opportunity to meet the Minister for Foreign Affairs. We were heartened by his generous response to the McCartney sisters. We have had a request for a meeting with him for three months but he has been very busy and we await an opportunity to meet him. It is important that representation on our behalf by the Department of Foreign Affairs is optimised.

Protocols should be put in place for families who are tragically bereaved under these circumstances. We wanted no specific help in financial or other terms, but we know of many families who are not that fortunate. A set of protocols should be put in place and a named, trained individual who could liaise with families should be appointed by the Department of Foreign Affairs.

On Daniel's case, we would like the committee to make representations and seek clarification of the situation. We are mystified as to whether the case has been reopened or remains closed. It is our perception that the police investigation was never opened. As recently as 24 February we received a letter from the Spanish Government following the inquest in Dublin that found a verdict of unlawful killing. This information was transmitted by the Garda Síochána to the authorities in Gran Canaria. Nonetheless, I received a letter from a sub-delegate of the Spanish Government to assure me that the national police have spared no effort in clarifying events, that the reports at the disposal of that Government office clearly indicate that the national police force had acted correctly and the reports of the pathologists who carried out the post mortem conclude that the cause of the death was an accidental fall.

We ask for clarification on the state of the investigation, for an investigation into Daniel's death and an investigation of the failure to investigate. We also seek a review of the policing of the Playa del Inglés and Maspalomas area because there are serious safety implications for other young tourists.

Chairman

Could the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform contact the Spanish authorities to find out the state of play? We talked about this before.

Deputy McDowell

This material has only been available to me since yesterday so I am not in a position to clarify the issue Dr. Pomeroy raises. I would have to inquire of the Spanish authorities exactly what the paragraph I read out to the committee means. The assertion made to Dr. Pomeroy that this matter was properly investigated cannot be true because eye witnesses in apartments overlooking the place where Daniel's body was found gave vivid accounts to members of the Garda Síochána and the Spanish police made no effort at the time to identify those people. It fell to the Garda Síochána, after Dr. Pomeroy complained to me, to find out the identity of those people and take statements from them. I find that letter to Dr. Pomeroy deeply disturbing.

Chairman

Dr. Pomeroy made clear the help from the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and the Department has been fantastic throughout the whole episode. I take from what was said, however, about the Department of Foreign Affairs that there may be a need for more assistance.

Dr. Pomeroy

We would greatly welcome the intervention of the Minister for Foreign Affairs on our behalf. As I said, we have seen him respond generously to cases such as the death of Robert McCartney, and we support such intervention. We would like similar intervention on our behalf. There are important issues raised for all EU citizens who travel abroad.

Senator Henry

I also know Maeve and Denis O'Callaghan and, in their grief, the fact that they have put forward the public interest so often is incredible. I have never been to Gran Canaria but I believe that people frequently go at the same time and to the same place. It is the second anniversary of Daniel's injury there. Could the gardaí who went out and who were so successful in their investigations go out at short notice to see if there is anyone there who was there two years ago who might remember something happening?

Mr. Denis O’Callaghan

It is outside the jurisdiction of the Garda Síochána.

Deputy McDowell

I agree with Mr.O'Callaghan. The Garda Síochána cannot conduct criminal investigations on the territory of another EU member state. Their presence for the purpose of this exercise was to gather enough information so they could conduct their inquiries in Ireland in a sensible way.

Senator Henry

Could the local police be prodded into doing anything?

Deputy McDowell

It is a matter for the local police to carry out a proper investigation.

Senator Henry

Were the four girls mentioned by the witness from County Wexford found and interviewed?

Dr. Pomeroy

They were neither found nor interviewed and it is my opinion with regard to the investigation that both the local and national police in Gran Canaria signally failed to discharge their obligations to conduct an investigation. An external review of the case, perhaps by a senior Spanish officer, is now required.

Deputy D. Wallace

I welcome the family to the committee under these difficult circumstances. I saw the programme and the edition of "Questions and Answers". As a committee, we will give whatever support we can in the areas outlined by the family at the start of the meeting. We will investigate those to see how best we can pursue them. I am uneasy about the situation in so far as the highest officer in the land, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, has been involved in this with his Spanish counterpart, but little progress has been made. If the situation was reversed and the Minister had called for an investigation in Ireland, it would be carried out. I do not underestimate the difficulties we face in moving this forward but I assure the family of our support. We will look at the areas outlined by the Chairman at the beginning of the meeting to see how we can bring closure to this matter.

Senator Lydon

This is a serious case and I extend my sympathies to the family, but it is not the only case. I saw a programme on British television that was similar to this, where a young man was beaten up outside a bar and the investigation was useless. I have absolute faith in the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and if anything can be done he will do it, in collaboration with his Spanish counterpart.

There is a limit to what we can do besides continue to appeal and apply to the Spanish Government and maintain pressure on it until eventually it may decide to act on the matter and allow a full investigation. We can only support the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform's actions. He has exceptional tenacity.

Deputy McDowell

In my previous involvement in these matters I acted as the local representative for Dr. Pomeroy and not as Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. This involves fundamental points, such as how all member states of the European Union deal with incidents of this kind. It also entails establishing a minimum level of investigation which can be discussed at the Justice and Home Affairs Council to try to achieve common standards.

The Department of Foreign Affairs is responsible for any interaction with the Spanish Government and judicial authorities. A Deputy acting as a representative, or a Minister who has no direct link to the Spanish judiciary or ministry for justice cannot undertake this communication.

Chairman

That is one of Dr. Pomeroy's main points.

Senator Dardis

The Minister has dealt with one of the points I wanted to raise. We are appalled by the difficulty of this situation for the family, and appreciate their coming here today to discuss it in a public arena.

When these events took place did the family seek or receive any assistance from the Irish diplomatic service in Spain or its representative in the Canaries?

Dr. Pomeroy

The consular office in Gran Canaria made contact with us. The consul was on holiday at the time but his assistant came. The office telephoned us and said to let it know if we wanted any help.

The consulate should meet the family within a 24-hour period to assess their needs in regard to accommodation, finances, translation facilities and psycho-social support. This is a very traumatic event and some families might not be able to cope. As it happened the travel agent provided many of those things, or we provided them ourselves. They did not pose major problems for us but those protocols should be in place for other families in similar unfortunate circumstances.

Senator Dardis

Does Dr. Pomeroy regard the response of the Irish authorities at the time as inadequate?

Dr. Pomeroy

I would like to see a better response for any other family in similar circumstances in the future.

Chairman

That is a good question. The response of the diplomatic service seems to have been inadequate. If so that should be said.

Senator Dardis

I support the Chairman's suggestion in regard to raising the matter at COSAC and trying to develop protocols that would apply across the Union.

Chairman

I will raise the matter with the Department of Foreign Affairs too. Does Dr. Pomeroy wish to raise any other issue with the committee?

Dr. Pomeroy

We thank the Chairman, the committee, the Minister, and the Garda Síochána. We very much appreciate and give due credit for the help we have received. Nonetheless, two years on we are unsure how our son died. We do not know whether he was robbed or whether the investigation is open. We are not an incompetent family and that is our circumstance.

We hope to discover the status of the investigation and would like an opportunity to meet with the Spanish Minister for Justice. We would like representations to be made on our behalf to facilitate an investigation of Daniel's death, the failure of the Spanish authorities to investigate it and of policing of the Playa del Ingles area.

Chairman

Our job is to clarify the position with the Spanish ambassador as to the status of this investigation today. The Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform has indicated it will do likewise. We will invite the Spanish ambassador to attend the committee to discuss this incident and other incidents involving Irish nationals in Spain.

It is apparent there should be a minimum standard protocol for dealing with the families of Irish nationals who are the victims of crimes in Spain. This support is not always provided, as Senator Dardis's question to Dr. Pomeroy reveals.

The committee can request a meeting with the Spanish Minister for Justice. Does the Minister wish to say anything on that proposal?

Deputy McDowell

Two issues arise in that situation. In continental European jurisdictions there is usually a minister for the interior and a minister for justice who have somewhat different roles. In this jurisdiction we combine them in one person. If the purpose of the meeting Dr. Pomeroy seeks is to inquire into the adequacy of police methods that could be a matter for either of those ministers, according to whether the examining magistrate is in control of the process. We are told the judicial police are widening the inquiry in which case the minister for justice would be the appropriate person to address. I can sort that out fairly quickly.

Deputy Allen

In regard to the suggested protocol we should invite the Department of Foreign Affairs to meet us. This is one tragic incident. At least three others were mentioned in the film we saw. We are all aware that tragic accidents occur every week involving sudden deaths and people are relatively helpless to deal with them. Even as public representatives we too are helpless at times. We should meet the relevant senior official in the Department of Foreign Affairs to establish a protocol which should be widely publicised.

Chairman

I agree that the Department of Foreign Affairs must be brought into this issue. The committee should inform the Department of its suspicion that there is a poor level or lack of investigation in some of these cases.

Sitting suspended at 3.28 p.m. and resumed at 3.29 p.m.