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

As the Deputy said, the Minister came into the Dáil and publicly admitted that he was convicted of a drink-driving offence four years ago, that he was penalised for that offence and that justice was meted out in accordance with the charge and with the offence that he committed. He adamantly denies any suggestion or implication that he sought to evade any checkpoint. That is his very strong position. He is very concerned that data related to his personal files have found their way to others and he feels that is a very serious issue.

Irrespective of what side of the House we come from and irrespective of the issue here, that is an issue that will have to be dealt with at some stage. I am aware that the Garda Commissioner has referred the issue to the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, GSOC, and it is one we cannot ignore. I am not apportioning blame anywhere here, because I do not know how that material left the PULSE file and ended up with various media outlets or others. I do not know how that process happened.

I spoke to the Minister, Deputy Cowen, the weekend before last and he adamantly denied any suggestion or implication that he would have evaded or attempted to avoid a checkpoint. At that stage, when someone says I was told, I believe a newspaper says it told my chief of staff or gave information to my chief of staff, but I cannot work on the basis of the sources of the media. I cannot verify without seeing the document myself. I had a lengthy conversation last evening with the Minister. Early this morning, with the Minister's permission, I saw the actual document.

The Minister has made it very clear to me that he wants to pursue both issues through the mechanisms that are available to him to pursue them. First, under the data protection process and by way of the Data Protection Commission, he is entitled to seek a correction of that particular record insofar as he believes that it does not accurately convey what transpired or that implications can be taken from it which may not necessarily be the case. He is pursuing that. Second, he feels the entire issue has become public because of what he sees as illegal procurement of the information. We now know that is being investigated. The Minister feels his rights have been transgressed and undermined in that regard and he believes he is entitled to due process in respect of both issues. He has pointed out to me that when it was first put to him - I think it was by a reporter or the media - he was very taken aback by the suggestion that he had turned away from a checkpoint. He was very adamant about that to me. That is why he said there was no issue made of it at the time, there was no reference to it at the time and he wants to seek to correct that aspect of it. In that context, he was clear to me that he wants to pursue his legal rights and entitlements in that respect.

I have kept both my colleagues in government, namely, the Tánaiste, Deputy Varadkar, and the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Eamon Ryan, fully up to date in regard to my conversations with the Minister, Deputy Cowen, and in respect of the fact that I have seen the Garda file. I am not at liberty to disclose it because it is not my property and it was shared with me in that context. That is the up-to-date position.

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