Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 8 February 2022

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence

Review of Workplace Arrangements: Department of Foreign Affairs

Mr. Joe Hackett:

That is a fair question. I thought quite a lot about that during the process. I decided not to go down that route for a variety of reasons. Had we done so, it would have been, necessarily, entirely confidential. We would not have been able to disclose the outcome of that. We would not have been able to respond to the public concern that had been created. We would not have been able, on legal advice, to publish the report we published because it could have been prejudicial. I made a judgment call that, given the level of attention this had got, there was a need to address that public concern quickly in an open way. I felt that going down the route of the disciplinary code would not have achieved that. That was my call and that is the reason.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.