Kenny expresses confidence in Commissioner after report

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan retains his confidence in the wake of the Garda Inspectorate’s report on penalty points. Mr Kenny acknowledged the management failings highlighted in the report and said the commissioner had responsibility for the day-do-day management of the force.

However, he said “yes I do” when asked whether Mr Callinan retained his confidence.

It came as the main opposition parties repeated their calls on both Minister for Justice Alan Shatter and Mr Callinan to apologise to the two whistleblowers within the Gardaí Síochána.

Fianna Fáil justice spokesman Niall Collins said the response of Mr Shatter and Mr Callinan had been inadequate. “Both should apologise, the Minister for what he said in the Dáil about [Garda whistleblower\] Sgt Maurice McCabe not co-operating, and the commissioner for his comment that the actions of the whistleblowers were disgusting.

“It will help draw a line under it. We all get things wrong in life and when you do, you put your hands up and say sorry. It will also help restore public confidence.”

Sinn Féin’s justice spokesman Pádraig Mac Lochlainn described the public reaction of both Mr Shatter and Mr Callinan as “mealy-mouthed”.

He went further than Mr Collins and suggested that the tenability of the commissioner was now in question.

“The way in which he tackled the penalty points and the GSOC allegations of bugging where he went on the offensive and said ‘the pigeons are coming home to roost’.

“His patter of phraseology reflects somebody who is not on top of his responsibility as accountable for the protection of all members of staff, including whistleblowers.

“There are serious questions about the tenability of the Garda Commissioner at the moment,” Mr Mac Lochlainn added.

While the Taoiseach said it was clear the penalty points affair would not have come to light without the actions of Garda whistleblowers, he did not say whether they deserved an apology.

Mr Kenny was speaking at the Washington headquarters of the US Chamber of Commerce at the first public event on his St Patrick’s Day visit to the US.

“Obviously ineffective management and lack of capacity to do the issue competently is what has been exposed here so that’s now going to be addressed,” he told reporters.

“Further to that, the GSOC, the Garda Ombudsman Commission, is also looking at the whole question of this area and there’ll be another report from that in due in course.

The inspectorate’s findings would now be dealt with, he said. “The commissioner has responsibility for dealing with the day-to- day running of the gardaí. Clearly the findings of the inspectorate’s report point out where dysfunctionality and inefficiency in the system has been.”

Asked whether the whistleblowers had been vindicated, he said the issue they had raised had certainly been brought before the public.

“These matters would not have been addressed in the way they are but for the fact that they were brought to light by the whistleblowers concerned.”

A source close to Garda Sgt McCabe said the inspectorate’s report had vindicated the whistleblower for a second time (following an earlier report by the Comptroller and Auditor General) and that he would be further vindicated by the results of the ongoing investigation by the GSOC into penalty points.