Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I want it to be clear that in publishing the report, I followed through on the legal steps it was necessary to take once I had received it. First, the report had to be seen by the Attorney General and it then had to be sent to a number of bodies to ensure that no criminal prosecutions would be interfered with or compromised by its publication. The report had to go to GSOC, the Director of Public Prosecutions and An Garda Síochána. I then took it to Cabinet and published it immediately afterwards. Clearly, various people had copies of the report and I agree with Deputies Adams and Martin that it is extremely unfortunate that aspects and sections of it were leaked during that period. Of course, I had no responsibility for that but different people had different sections of the report and some chose to act illegally in relation to the information they had. It is illegal to publish the information in relation to a commission of inquiry such as we have seen.

To answer the Deputy's questions, neither I nor my Department had any involvement in the approach taken by the Garda at the commission of investigation. There is no question of that. The duties of confidentiality on the Commissioner imposed by the commission of investigation are not overridden by any duty of the Commissioner to account to me in relation to the commission. It would have been completely wrong to try to influence the approach of the Garda to the commission of investigation. In relation to the current situation, I have ongoing meetings with the Garda Commissioner and, in respect of my recent discussions with her, what is in her statement yesterday outlines her approach to the findings of the commission of investigation, which she accepts fully. She has outlined very clearly her response to the recent media reports that we have seen and has outlined that she recognises the value of what Sergeant Maurice McCabe did, accepts the findings of the commission in relation to him and accepts that the recommendations must be followed through.

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