Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Is the Minister satisfied from a legal perspective that the section of the Act concerned covers legal instructions and submissions because I have been advised that it does not cover legal instruction and submissions by senior counsel? My understanding is that it was not inquisitorial in respect of Sergeant McCabe but was, in fact, extremely adversarial and that almost every single thing was laid at his doorstep. That is why the issue needs comprehensive treatment and to be addressed in a transparent manner. There is a sense, rightly or wrongly, that the person making the allegations felt he was the person on trial throughout the process. While I accept that the report itself is very meticulous, in relation to chapter 11 and, indeed, to an earlier issue pertaining to a GSOC inquiry relating to the Mary Lynch case, Sergeant McCabe was again wrongly accused before being vindicated because, luckily, he had a tape recording. He was wronged completely in terms of Fr. Molloy and the missing computer. Clearly, he had a recording of the conversation with these two officers who apparently alleged in advance that he was motivated by malice. One wonders where he would be now in terms of the court of public opinion if he had not taken those protective measures.

There is an issue for all of us in the House when one looks at what transpired over the last three weeks when these issues were articulated via selective leaking, spinning and interpretation. Given the selective leaking, it is very easy to see how a person in Sergeant McCabe's position would have been extremely vulnerable if he had not taken the protective measures he did to protect his reputation and credibility. To be fair to Seán Guerin, who has been much vilified in recent times as well, he went to the trouble of getting statements from all of the people in charge of Bailieborough from 2003 onwards and they were exemplary in terms of their commentary on Sergeant McCabe's character and conduct. That is an important point. One wonders if there was an attempt to undermine the Guerin report in its entirety. I do not know nor do I have all the answers to it but it needs to be comprehensively addressed.

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