Mr. Brian Purcell:

There was correspondence - I think I mentioned this earlier - between the Department and the solicitors acting on behalf of Sergeant McCabe because it was through the solicitor that these three dossiers had come in. There was correspondence, going from the Department to the solicitor, asking for permission stating that we needed to refer these matters to the Garda Commissioner. There was also another issue in relation to when they were originally sent in, that they were saying there were records attached to the allegations, and despite what it said, there was nothing attached and we were inquiring about that. I think Mr. Guerin SC refers to that in his report.

Those letters were going to the solicitor seeking the permission. We felt that this was necessary because we were aware Sergeant McCabe, in other correspondence, had made clear the fact that he did not think it was appropriate. In fact, if I am correct, Costello & Co. - I cannot remember the individual solicitor's name - had stated in the original letter that came in with these complaints that they did not think it was appropriate that either the Garda Síochána or GSOC would investigate these matters and that is why they were calling for a section 42 investigation. They thought the matters were so serious that GSOC could not investigate them. However, the facts of the matter are that GSOC has the power to investigate anything up to and including deaths. Those are the circumstances.