Written answers

Thursday, 23 June 2011

Department of Justice, Equality and Defence

Ministerial Appointments

6:00 pm

Photo of Dara CallearyDara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Question 25: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the contacts he had with the prescribed persons or organisations prior to the appointment of a person (details supplied) as confidential recipient and if he informed these organisations of this persons political donation to him. [16782/11]

Photo of Alan ShatterAlan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy is aware, on 14 June 2011, I appointed Mr. Oliver J. Connolly, Barrister-at-Law, to the position of Confidential Recipient under Regulation 6 of the Garda Síochána (Confidential Reporting of Corruption or Malpractice) Regulations 2007. The role of the Confidential Recipient is to be available to receive, in confidence, reports of corruption or malpractice within An Garda Síochána from Members of An Garda Síochána or civilian employees. Remuneration in respect of the position is €12,500 gross per annum.

Section 6 (1) of the applicable regulation states: Confidential recipients

6. (1) The Minister shall, after consultation with the Commissioner, the Ombudsman Commission, the Garda Síochána Inspectorate, the Garda Síochána representative associations and the trade unions or staff associations recognised as representing civilians, appoint a person or persons as a confidential recipient or recipients.

(2) A person so appointed shall be a judge, former judge, barrister or solicitor or a serving or former senior civil or public servant.

In accordance with this regulation, consultation with the prescribed persons and organisations took place prior to the appointment of Mr. Connolly.

I wish to stress two essential points about my decision to appoint Mr. Connolly. First, a person appointed as a Confidential Recipient must be a judge, former judge, barrister, or solicitor, or a serving or former senior civil or public servant. For twenty years, Mr Connolly has practised as a lawyer with outstanding credentials. I will give a synopsis of his achievements to illuminate his calibre. He qualified to practise as a lawyer in Ireland, England, Northern Ireland, and New York. At Trinity College Dublin, he teaches civil and commercial arbitration and mediation on the Masters-in-Law programme. He has diplomas in various fields of mediation and is a member of the American Bar Association's Alternative-Dispute-Resolution Committee. From 2002 to 2003, he served as the Hoellering World Fellow in Residence with the American Arbitration Association in New York. Upon petition by the Irish-American Lawyers Association, he was admitted to practise before the Bar of the United States Supreme Court. Self-evidently, he possesses the qualities and qualifications inherently necessary to make him eligible for the role of Confidential Recipient.

Second, the Confidential Recipient must be a person of the highest integrity. To feel free enough to report wrongdoing in the force, any member or civilian employee of An Garda Síochána who needs to report in confidence acts of corruption or malpractice must have the assurance that he or she can place his or her trust in the Confidential Recipient. I would go so far as to say that it must be manifest to them from the very character of the Confidential Recipient that their report will be taken seriously and their right to confidentiality protected. Mr Connolly is a person of the highest integrity.

Mr. Connolly, as a Lawyer, has striven to reduce the legal and other costs for people involved in civil litigation and matrimonial disputes. Specifically, he has promoted the use of alternative dispute resolution, a procedure for settling disputes other than through costly litigation. His mediation service – Friary Law – assists disputing parties to negotiate an agreed settlement of contentious issues. His track record evinces a wholly admirable public-service commitment. For example, he provided the Law Reform Commission with invaluable assistance when it was preparing its report entitled Alternative Dispute Resolution: Mediation and Conciliation, which was published in 2010. He has been active in pressing policymakers to regulate legal services with a view to widening access to justice for citizens.

Justifiably, his work and his integrity have attracted cross-party recognition. In April 2004, Michael McDowell TD, who was Minister for Justice in the Fianna Fail-Progressive Democrat administration appointed Mr. Connolly's Friary Law as a nominating body for mediators under the Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004. Then, in March 2011, Brendan Smith TD, who was Minister for Justice, appointed Friary Law as a nominating body for the appointment of mediators under the Multi-Unit Development Act 2011. I share this well-evidenced opinion of his integrity. The contribution by Mr Connolly of a sum of €1,000 to my election campaign in 2007 as properly disclosed by me in accordance with current law and as published by the Standards in Public Office Commission some years ago played no part in my appointment of Oliver Connolly as confidential recipient, just as it played no part in the appointment of Oliver Connolly's Friary Law by my predecessor as a mediator nominating Body under the 2011 Act.

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