Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 April 2018
35. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if he is satisfied that his Department provided full information to and co-operated fully with the O’Higgins commission and the O’Neill report into Garda whistleblower claims; and if he has asked his officials for assurances regarding same. [16448/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraGiven all of the information that is now in the public domain, is the Minister satisfied that his Department provided full information and co-operated fully with both the O'Higgins commission and the O'Neill report into Garda whistleblower claims and has he asked his officials for absolute assurances on same?
It may assist the House to recall that the O'Higgins Commission of Investigation was established to examine allegations relating to the Cavan-Monaghan division of An Garda Síochána, particularly allegations of serious Garda failures in the investigation of criminal offences. The commission also examined the action taken by the Department of Justice and Equality on foot of certain complaints made to the then Minister. I have been assured that officials in the Department provided full information and co-operated fully with the commission. I have been assured that there was extensive and full disclosure of documents on foot of detailed discovery orders made by the commission. A number of officials gave evidence before the commission.
I am advised that at no stage did Mr. Justice O'Higgins express the view that the Department had not fully co-operated with the commission. The judge acknowledged in his report the co-operation the commission had received from all persons. The commission's key finding in this respect was that the initial complaint made to the then Minister in 2009 was dealt with appropriately. No criticism arises in that regard.
Furthermore, the commission found that reports to the Department from the confidential recipient were taken seriously and addressed promptly. With regard to a complaint against the Garda Commissioner, it concludes that a request to the Commissioner for a report was entirely reasonable and appropriate. It also concludes that the decision that no further steps were warranted at the time by the Minister, or by officials, took account of all relevant factors and was appropriate. These findings suggest that the Department provided full information to the commission and co-operated fully with it.
The second part of the Deputy's question relates to a review that was carried out by a former High Court judge, Mr. Justice Iarfhlaith O'Neill. Mr. Justice O'Neill was asked to review allegations contained in two protected disclosures that had been sent to then Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, and to advise her on the most appropriate way to deal with them. I am informed that my Department provided the said protected disclosure letters to Mr. Justice O'Neill and responded to all requests for assistance made by him. I am further informed that in the course of his review, other correspondence received by the Department was forwarded to Mr. Justice O'Neill for his consideration. I am assured that my Department provided Mr. Justice O'Neill with all the information he required. Arising from Mr. Justice O'Neill's preliminary review and following cross-party consultation, the Government established the Disclosures Tribunal, which is currently examining these and other matters.
I thank the Minister for his answer. My questions arise from the public information we now know. In light of the Minister's answer, I ask him to email everyone in the Department of Justice and Equality to ask them if they believe all information was provided, in particular to Mr. Justice O'Neill. The Minister mentioned in his reply that "other correspondence" was provided. I want to make sure that was comprehensive. In light of what is coming out of the tribunal, I am not sure how credible it is to suggest that all the information was provided. If all the information was provided from the Department of Justice and Equality, which led on the setting of the terms of reference for the Charleton inquiry through this House, surely that Department would have been fully at the centre of that inquiry. I call on the Minister to ask his officials to state comprehensively whether all information - not just "other" information - was provided, particularly to Mr. Justice O'Neill. I remind the House that Mr. Justice O'Neill's report did the groundwork and was the basis for the tribunal that is now sitting.
As the Deputy is aware, the Department of Justice and Equality made extensive disclosure and discovery to the Disclosures Tribunal. It is now a matter for the tribunal to determine. I remind the Deputy of our previous debate on this issue. He will be aware that Mr. Michael Collins, SC, has conducted an external review of the Department's discovery of documents to the Disclosures Tribunal. Mr. Collins identified certain shortcomings, particularly arising from the filing of electronic communications. These shortcomings are being addressed. It is important to note that Mr. Collins found that there was no attempt by the Department to conceal information from the tribunal in any way. He found that my predecessor and departmental officials acted in good faith at all times and believed they were acting reasonably in the manner in which they conducted searches for documentation. He concluded that in his view, there was no evidence of failure by the Department to comply with disclosure orders. He acknowledged that this is properly a matter for the tribunal itself ultimately to determine.
I ask the Minister again to give this House an assurance by asking the officials in his Department to state comprehensively whether all information, and not just "other" information, was provided. There is a limit to how many times I can ask the Minister to do this. He can choose to do it. He does not have to do it. We can ask questions. It seems to me that it is nonsense to suggest that the terms of reference for the tribunal, which we agreed in this House, would have been the same if the information which has come into the public domain had been provided to Mr. Justice O'Neill. There would have been a whole module on the Department of Justice and Equality. The Minister has said that the Department gave full disclosure to the tribunal. I remind him that it did so last December after I had spent months asking numerous questions which we will not go back into. It was only then that this information was produced by these officials and others. I do not think it is credible for the Minister to say here that he is 100% certain that everything was given to Mr. Justice O'Neill. I believe that if the information which has come into the public domain had been given to Mr. Justice O'Neill, his report would have been different and the basis on which the current tribunal is sitting would be different. In such circumstances, there would be a whole module relating to the Department of Justice and Equality. I would not have had to drag all this information out of the Department and into the public domain. There would be new witnesses and new information would be provided to the Department. I do not want to end up going down another road whereby we have to ask numerous questions to get information. Will the Minister ask the officials what I have called on him to ask them? By doing this, he will cover himself as well.
I would be happy to pursue this matter further. While I am concerned, I am also confident that the Department of Justice and Equality has taken important lessons from its experiences over the past year. The new measures that are actively being put in place by the Department are aimed at ensuring an oversight of any kind cannot happen in the future. These plans were referred to and endorsed by Mr. Michael Collins SC in his report, which was published last month. I listened to Deputy Kelly when he spoke on certain aspects of that 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. Mr. Collins's report points to the absence of a systematic system for filing emails in the Department. This is under review. A review of parliamentary questions relating to Sergeant Maurice McCabe was undertaken by the Department and published in January. A search of approximately 30 million emails, which was undertaken by an external IT company, ultimately resulted in the identification of 79 additional documents of potential relevance, many of which related to the drafting of a single statement. The review also noted that the search provides an appropriate degree of confidence that the Department of Justice and Equality has identified and supplied all material of potential relevance to the Disclosures Tribunal. The Department is engaging constructively with the effectiveness and renewal group, which has been asked to take account of this review and its findings in its ongoing work.
I thank the Minister.
