Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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129. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the way in which a member of the public can bring forward information or make a submission to the Garda whistleblowers inquiry; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3131/17]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I assume that the Deputy is referring to the review which I asked Mr Justice Iarfhlaith O’Neill to undertake relating to two protected disclosures which I received from members of An Garda Síochána in early October last year.

Mr Justice O’Neill was asked to review the allegations of wrongdoing contained in the disclosures, to make any inquiries with persons or bodies that he considered appropriate in relation to the review and to report to me on the conclusion of the review, including any recommendations which he may consider necessary in relation to any further action which may be appropriate and warranted to address the allegations. General submissions from the public were therefore not relevant to this particular review.

Mr. Justice O'Neill's review is now complete and I received his Report on 7 December 2016. The Report sets out in detail the allegations contained in the protected disclosures. In view of the nature of those allegations, and the fact that third parties are mentioned, the Report was referred to the Attorney General for her advice on how to proceed, including the question of what material might properly be put in the public domain, having regard to the rights of all concerned. Advices were received from the Attorney General’s Office which raised further issues and which necessitated further consultation between my Department and the Office.

I expect that I will be in a position to bring proposals to Government on this matter in the very near future.