CABINET colleagues of Minister Helen McEntee say she will make a comprehensive statement to the Dáil in a desperate effort to hold off an inquisition or a motion of no confidence over her handling of protected disclosures made by Garda whistleblowers.
The blame game has also deepened within the Coalition over the exposure of a whistleblower’s identity, as politicians point the finger at officials in the Department of Justice.
However, senior Opposition politicians, Labour justice spokesman Alan Kelly and senator and former Attorney General Michael McDowell, are still insisting Ms McEntee make herself available in Dáil Éireann and submit to a questions-and-answer format she appears to dread.
Last week the Irish Mail on Sunday revealed Ms McEntee directed An Garda Síochána to investigate a protected disclosure because it did not meet the ‘high threshold’ required for external investigation of the Garda Commissioner – based only on bullet-pointed summaries of the allegations.
Neither the minister nor her officials sought any further information or corroborative evidence from the whistleblower before deciding that gardaí should investigate themselves.
However, senior Opposition politicians, Labour justice spokesman Alan Kelly and senator and former Attorney General Michael McDowell, are still insisting Ms McEntee make herself available in Dáil Éireann and submit to a questions-and-answer format she appears to dread
Department of Justice correspondence showed that the former minister for justice personally ‘directed’ that a protected disclosure that criticised the Garda Commissioner be sent to the same Commissioner, and in the process disclosed the identity of the whistleblower.
Despite her repeated assertion that she cannot comment on protected disclosures, Coalition insiders acknowledge the huge difficulties facing the minister.
Now there are desperate attempts to blame civil servants for the debacle.
Challenged by the MoS at a post-Budget press briefing this week, Ms McEntee refused to submit to demands that she participate in a question-and-answer session in the Dáil.
She claimed she has already answered questions in the House about her actions.
But in a further embarrassing development for Ms McEntee, lawyers for Garda whistleblowers have written to the now-Foreign Affairs Minister to demand that she correct the record of the Dáil on the occasion she addressed the matter.
There are growing fears among her Fine Gael colleagues that Ms McEntee will take the blame in the expanding political controversy that has seen several Garda whistleblowers penalised for exposing wrongdoing in the force.
However, conscious that Ms McEntee is a poor Dáil debater, senior Coalition colleagues are determined to keep her away from the tough inquisitorial format, especially in light of revelations in the MoS of her handling of the protected disclosures.
Her Cabinet colleagues are also aware that the opposition is planning to table a motion of no confidence in Ms McEntee over her handling of the confidential disclosures.
Ministers this week said the Coalition’s strategy to address the controversy will be to blame officials.
A Cabinet source told the MoS: ‘She will put more information in the public domain. The best way to do that is to make a lengthy, comprehensive statement to the Dáil.
‘But she will not be doing that questions-and-answers format. That can get completely out of control, and we haven’t really seen that since Frances Fitzgerald did it back in 2017, and we all know what happened then.’
Then-tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald lost her job over a previous Garda whistleblower controversy after she came under fire in a question- and-answer session in the Dáil.
There are growing fears among her Fine Gael colleagues that Ms McEntee will take the blame in the expanding political controversy that has seen several Garda whistleblowers penalised for exposing wrongdoing in the force
Last week, the MoS revealed how, in late 2023, Ms McEntee took extraordinary action with a protected disclosure by a senior garda who made confidential claims to her about then-commissioner Drew Harris, and serious wrongdoing within An Garda Síochána.
She first referred the allegations to a body established to handle protected disclosures.
However, she subsequently ‘directed’ that the protected disclosure be sent to Garda HQ and the Office of the Garda Commissioner.
In doing so, Ms McEntee disclosed the contents of the protected disclosure and betrayed the identity of the whistleblower.
At a press conference on Wednesday, Ms McEntee was asked if she would go into the Dáil to answer questions about her conduct over the treatment of whistleblowers.
She was also asked to explain how she exposed the identity of the whistleblower.
The minister replied: ‘I think I’ve answered this question quite a few times in the past few weeks. I have been in the Dáil [and] have actually answered this… before, and I’ve been very clear. My position hasn’t changed, and my actions, be it when I was the Minister for Justice or my time now, as the current Minister for Defence and Foreign Affairs, hasn’t changed.
‘I’ve always adhered to legislation. I’ve always adhered to advice that’s been provided to me in relation to the legislation. And I think I’ve said a number of times that I’ve always acted to protect whistleblowers, but to protect the integrity of the protected disclosure system.’
Pressed further about the matter, Ms McEntee repeatedly said: ‘I’ve always followed advice provided to me.’
At a press conference on Wednesday, Ms McEntee was asked if she would go into the Dáil to answer questions about her conduct over the treatment of whistleblowers
But in a follow-up question, the minister was unable to specifically identify who advised her and under what specific legislation she was advised.
In the Dáil the same day, Ms McEntee’s successor, Jim O’Callaghan, also referred to ‘advice’ she received from unidentified officials at the Department of Justice.
In response to questions from Sinn Féin justice spokesman Matt Carthy, who asked Mr O’Callaghan specifically about the referring of a whistleblower’s file to their Garda superiors, the current Justice Minister said: ‘I have examined the files on what happened prior to my arrival in the department.
‘My view is that my predecessor, Deputy McEntee, behaved in an entirely appropriate manner and followed departmental advice in respect of issues to which the deputy is referring.’
Mr O’Callaghan said he ‘referred issues highlighted in the protected disclosure… to Fiosrú’ [the Garda Ombudsman] on February 27 last year.
He told the Dáil: ‘I referred them for the purpose of having them investigated. I do not want to get into detail on the issues arising from that, but it is important, if somebody makes a protected disclosure and we have identified an entity to investigate it, that the individual engage with that entity so it can conduct and conclude its investigation.’
Speaking confidentially about the statements this week by the current and former ministers for justice, a Cabinet source noted: ‘If you analyse what both McEntee and O’Callaghan are saying, they repeatedly refer to “advice” that they received.
‘This could be advice from legal advisers, from civil servants from any adviser across the Government, and there will be a paper trail.
‘So at the end of this process, it is hoped that a civil servant or a lawyer can be thrown under a bus and blamed. Certainly, if we start seeing ministers sacked that just hastens the end of the Coalition… and nobody wants that.’
THE State has moved to further delay – for a year – a case against a Garda whistleblower that has already been adjourned 28 times.
If the Central Criminal Court accepts the application, it will mean that the case, which involves firearms charges, will have been going on for more than seven years. The accused was arrested in 2019.
This week the whistleblower’s defence team will oppose the State motion to postpone the trial.
The Irish Mail on Sunday understands the DPP wants a postponement because it fears the accused would not be able to receive a fair trial due to publicity about the case.
The DPP has cited a recent RTÉ Investigates documentary which broadcast an onscreen interview with an accused man in which possible evidence for a trial was discussed.
Last month the MoS revealed gardaí and the DPP had contacted RTÉ in advance of the documentary to warn the national broadcaster of its duty to ensure a fair trial could be held.
This came after gardaí became aware RTÉ intended to broadcast an interview with an accused man who had previously been a whistleblower, who had raised serious issues relating to defective gun holsters.
The MoS previously published several articles that described the whistleblower’s protected disclosures.
Two days after the documentary was aired, it was removed from the RTÉ Player. RTÉ confirmed it received communications from the An Garda Síochána and the DPP.
