Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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92. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if her Department holds a report requested by a former Minister in 2007 on the case of a person (details supplied). [31531/16]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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143. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if she or her Department is aware of complaints regarding the way a car accident was dealt with in Shannon, County Clare, on 29 June 2003 by the gardaí made by a person (details supplied); if her attention has been drawn to a subsequent report carried out by her Department in 2006 on this accident; the status of this report; if any actions were taken as a result of this report; if this report can be made public; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31892/16]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 92 and 143 together.

The particular case to which the Deputies are referring was amongst those considered under the mechanism established for the independent review of certain allegations of Garda misconduct, or inadequacies in the investigation of certain allegations, which were made to me as Minister for Justice and Equality, or the Taoiseach, or other public representatives with a view to determining to what extent and in what manner further action may have been required in each case.

The outcome of the review in this case was communicated to the complainant in a notification letter issued in February 2016. The letter of notification set out the reasons for the recommendation made by the member of the IRM panel who examined the papers. I accepted that recommendation, as I have done in all of the cases referred to the IRM. The recommendation in this case was that I should take no further action.

It is assumed that the report referred to by the Deputies is a report prepared by a Superintendent in an Garda Síochána in early 2007. That report was neither requested by, nor done by, my Department. Nor was it commissioned by a former Minister of the Department. The report in question was prepared on the instructions of the then Garda Commissioner after the individual concerned wrote to the Commissioner in October 2006 raising matters in relation to the original investigation. The then Garda Commissioner ordered a full assessment of the investigation and the issues raised by the individual concerned.

It must be borne in mind that the report follows an internal Garda review related to the case. The individual concerned has previously requested a copy of the report from the Garda Síochána and they took the decision to refuse to provide a copy.

My Department has requested, and was provided with, various Garda reports on a number of occasions related to this case. The intention on each occasion was to seek material to assist in drafting a response to correspondence submitted by the person concerned to the then Minister. This approach is regularly taken by the Department when dealing with such representations.

However, in relation to the particular report referred to in the Deputies' questions neither the Department nor I were provided with a copy of the Superintendent's report, nor was any request made for the report, until the case was included for consideration under the IRM. At the request of counsel, my Department wrote to the Garda Síochána seeking access to the report on behalf of the IRM panel to assist counsel in their consideration of the case. In response to that request, a copy of the report was provided to my Department by the Garda Síochána in January 2016. The report was forwarded by the Department to the Panel and they concluded their consideration of the complaint.

My Department has written to the individual concerned explaining the position in relation to the report on a number of occasions.