Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister did not tell us whether minutes are kept in his Department of any meetings that he has had with the confidential recipient and I ask him to address that question. The Minister has also not addressed the fundamental issue here. What is contained in the transcript is not disputed by anybody, including by the Minister himself, but the Minister asked the confidential recipient to deny what he has said. Mr. Connolly said what he said and obviously he is standing over what he said to Sergeant Maurice McCabe and the Minister has removed him on that basis. That points to a very peculiar situation that the Minister is not addressing in terms of the comments that the confidential recipient made to Sergeant Maurice McCabe. In any event, I will be asking the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality to invite Mr. Oliver Connolly before it. Does the Minister support that proposal?

My colleague, Deputy John McGuinness, yesterday raised the issue of another Garda whistleblower to whom he has spoken and raised directly with the Minister her dealings with the confidential recipient. Is the Minister aware of that? Has he spoken to the confidential recipient about it or has he knowledge or detail in that regard?

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