Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As the Tánaiste notes, there was a commission of investigation underway at the time under a judge which was set up by this Government, and we now have a disclosures tribunal established by this House to look into all of these matters. The email is not my property and I do not know if I have the authority to publish it. It is a document before the tribunal, so I will have to take advice on that matter. I have had no direct contact with the Secretary General of the Department of Justice and Equality. I have had contact with the Minister for Justice and Equality and have done my best to find out as many of the facts about this matter as possible. In terms of my contacts with the Tánaiste, we spoke on the phone when she was in Dubai last week. As she has said on the radio just now, she did not recall the email at that time. However, what she said to me was substantially true, that she only became aware of the details of this set of events when they came into the public knowledge. We have an email between officials relating to a third party conversation in relation to events that happened at the commission which was forwarded to the Tánaiste for information. The conclusion at the bottom of that email was that she had no function in the matter at all.

In terms of the other matter raised by the Deputy, during oral questions two weeks ago I was asked a supplementary question concerning the vacancy of the position of Garda detective inspector at the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement, ODCE. In my response I stated that:

I understand the duties and role have been undertaken by another detective inspector in addition to other duties. An ambitious programme of recruitment and promotion is now underway across An Garda Síochána. This is taking some time, but arising from the process a new appointment will be made to the post as soon as possible. In the interim, the Garda authorities have confirmed that they intend to assign the role on a full-time basis, effective immediately. It is important to note that there has been a full complement of gardaí at sergeant rank throughout this period.

Subsequent to that, the Director of Corporate Enforcement wrote to the acting commissioner on Tuesday, 14 November, to draw attention to inaccuracies in what had been reported in the media and to communicate his concern in that regard. In recording those concerns, the director noted that the aforementioned inaccuracies appear to have been formed on the basis of information provided in the House. This correspondence was only brought to my Department's attention on foot of a media query on Friday, 17 November. The ODCE did not write directly to me or to the Department of the Taoiseach. My answer in the House was based on a briefing from the Department of Justice and Equality, which had received the information from the Garda.

On foot of the correspondence between the Garda and the ODCE, I want to provide the following clarification. An Garda Síochána advised that inspector cover was provided to the ODCE from March 2017. As I said in the House, this was somebody who had other duties at the time as well. In his letter to the acting commissioner, the director states that at no point had a detective inspector been assigned to him and that at no point had the detective inspector come under his direction. The director further states that under those circumstances the individual, referred to above, in his view could not be delegated with the director's powers, nor could the director share otherwise confidential information with the individual referred to. As set out in my original answer, An Garda Síochána had informed the Department of Justice and Equality that it intended to assign the role on a full-time but interim basis with immediate effect, and that a permanent officer would be assigned following an ongoing promotion competition.

Subsequent to that and after my answer an issue arose with the candidate identified to carry out the role. I have now been assured by the Department of Justice and Equality that an inspector has been identified to fill the role on an interim full-time basis. Following a meeting yesterday, Monday, 20 November, between the director and the detective chief superintendent of the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau I am informed that the inspector will take up his new role with effect from Monday, 27 November. An internal Garda Síochána competition is expected to conclude in early 2018. Following this, a full-time detective inspector will be assigned to the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement, ODCE, on a permanent basis.

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