Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 29 March 2018
231. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if he has been provided with a copy of the findings of the counsel led review of his Department; the steps he will take on foot of this report; if he plans to publish this report; the timeframe in which he will do so; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14899/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe report of the Independent Review of the response of the Department of Justice and Equality to requests for documents from the Disclosures Tribunal was published by the Taoiseach earlier this week.
I want to again thank Michael Collins SC for undertaking this task, and for the comprehensive, efficient and professional way in which he carried out his review.
I welcome Mr. Collins’s central conclusion that there was no attempt by the Department of Justice and Equality to conceal information from the Tribunal in any way and that my predecessor and Department officials acted at all times in good faith and believed that they were acting reasonably in the manner in which they conducted searches for documentation. Mr. Collins also stated that he found no evidence of any failure to comply with Orders from the Tribunal.
I am of course concerned that emails of potential relevance to the Tribunal’s considerations were not located as part of the Department’s discovery process. My Department is putting new measures in place that are aimed at ensuring that an oversight of this kind could not happen in future. These plans are referred to and endorsed by Mr. Collins in his report. These new measures include the use of specialist IT consultants, where needed, for discovery and the establishment of a separate unit to interact with Tribunals and Commissions. There is a Civil-service wide initiative underway in relation to electronic file management and this will help to ensure that electronic documents, including emails, can more easily be associated with relevant files.
My full statement on the matter can be found on my Department's website, www.justice.ie.
