Kenny let report be rushed to force Shatter out - Martin

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has been accused of allowing a report into the handling of Garda malpractice claims made by a whistleblower to be rushed into publication to force the resignation of former minister for justice Alan Shatter.

The claim comes after it emerged the Department of the Taoiseach was made aware of difficulties barrister Seán Guerin, who examined the claims of misconduct made by Sgt Maurice McCabe, was facing in securing information from the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (Gsoc).

Documents released to The Irish Times under the Freedom of Information Act show Mr Guerin copied the Taoiseach correspondence he exchanged with Gsoc and its solicitors Arthur Cox on April 10th and April 24th, 2014.

Gsoc stated it had “voluminous correspondence” in relation to the issue under investigation, but sought legal safeguards regarding the protection of the rights of people concerned before releasing it to Mr Guerin.

Independent inquiry

Mr Guerin was commissioned by the Department of the Taoiseach on February 27th, 2014, to conduct an independent inquiry into allegations made by Sgt McCabe and how those claims were handled by gardaí, Gsoc and the Department of Justice.

He was told to report within eight weeks of that date. His final finding was published on May 9th, 10 weeks after he was commissioned to examine the matter. He detailed his frustration at not receiving documents from Gsoc in his report.

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin said the Freedom of Information records created a suspicion Mr Kenny did not give an extension so that the report would be issued more quickly so as to make Mr Shatter's position untenable.

“The fact the Department of An Taoiseach was made aware of the the refusal of Gsoc to cooperate with the report without legal safeguards, but failed to raise any concerns, shows that political expedience came first,” Mr Martin said.

“The Taoiseach had obviously decided that after the series of disasters in the Department of Justice he was getting rid of the then minister for justice Alan Shatter as a political liability and would allow no delay in using the report as his excuse.”

The report found there was “cause for concern as to the adequacy of the investigations that have taken place” into the complaints made by Sgt McCabe and “as to whether all appropriate steps have been taken”.

It led to the resignation of Mr Shatter, who is now taking High Court proceedings against its findings.

The first piece of correspondence from Mr Guerin to Gsoc and copied to the Department of the Taoiseach was a reminder he was seeking documents, noting the “very limited” time available for his inquiry. A second email Mr Guerin sent to Gsoc’s solicitors Arthur Cox was also copied to Mr Kenny’s department, and both pieces were circulated within the department.

It is understood Arthur Cox also wrote to Mr Kenny’s department on the issue in late April.

Mr Martin said the Freedom of Information documents were a further sign of the “shady, sordid and shifty manner” in which Mr Kenny dealt with justice issues.

“Coming weeks after he effectively sacked [Garda] commissioner [Martin] Callinan it is another clear example of the underhanded approach the Taoiseach takes to these matters,” he said. “It is even more disturbing that the correspondence exchanged was not released with the final Guerin report or through FoI after its publication.”

Copied correspondence

A spokeswoman for the Taoiseach said Mr Guerin was appointed to carry out an independent inquiry and copied correspondence to the department. “When it was received, the department contacted him to confirm that he was not requesting any action of the department. He confirmed that and no action was taken by the department.”

On Mr Martin’s comments, a spokesman for the Taoiseach said: “Micheál Martin expressed a view that the Guerin report would be published without delay, which of course it was, and now is he complaining about the fact . . . It is not a tenable position.”

Mr Shatter and Mr Guerin both declined to comment when contacted.

A spokeswoman for Gsoc said it was reluctant to hand over documentation until it was confident appropriate safeguards were in place.

“If we had had more time or even an awareness of an exact deadline and a confirmation of the appropriate safeguards to assure the protection of the rights of people concerned by documentation within that which had been gathered together for the purposes of furnishing it to the inquiry, then we certainly could have furnished that documentation to Mr Guerin,” she said.