Civil servants bite back at Leo
Justice boss defends staff as he quits department
‘Major problems exposed’
THE Department of Justice is on a collision course with the Taoiseach after a high-ranking official claimed that those working in the department have been subjected to a ‘barrage of unwarranted criticism’.
Noel Waters, secretary general of the department, issued the strong defence of himself and his colleagues last night – as he retired from his role with immediate effect.
This came just hours after Leo Varadkar told the Dáil he would be holding the ‘dysfunctional’ department and its senior officials to account over the Garda whistleblower scandal. However, former justice minister Dermot Ahern last night said that politicians blaming public servants in these situations is ‘a cop-out’.
Mr Waters’ decision to resign means he cannot be summoned to answer questions in Dáil committees on the scandal, despite the Taoiseach promising TDs yesterday that they would get a chance to grill senior officials ‘face to face’ over the saga. Mr Varadkar also said an external review is to be carried out into how key emails to the now former tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald were not passed on to the Charleton Tribunal as part of a recent handover of documents.
Those emails revealed that Ms Fitzgerald was informed, during her time as justice minister, of the ‘aggressive stance’ being taken by then Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan against whistleblower Sergeant Maurice McCabe.
The Taoiseach told the Dáil yesterday: ‘The events of the past few days have exposed major problems, once again, within a dysfunctional Department of Justice, including the way important emails were not found and therefore not sent on to the Charleton Tribunal during discovery.
‘I am directing that there will be an external inquiry into that, to report before Christmas.’
Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan issued strong criticisms of his department last night, saying: ‘It has been a major challenge, at every step, to obtain complete information in a timely manner. Indeed, on a few occasions recently, information has been provided to me, to the Taoiseach, and then to this House, which has proven subsequently to be inaccurate. This is completely unacceptable.’
He also He said: ‘Much of criticism made of the Department of Justice is warranted. There are problems in the department... We are looking at how we can go forward.’
However, Mr Waters fired back yesterday evening – saying that those who work in the department ‘sought at all times to act appropriately’.
Email records show that seven people in the department knew of the email in which the issues around the Garda Commissioner’s approach were flagged.
But Mr Waters said last night: ‘The department has been subject to a barrage of unwarranted criticism in recent days and most particularly today.
‘I want to assure you that, in so far as is humanly possible, this department has sought at all times to act appropriately, upholding the law and the institutions of the State.’ He added that it was ‘a particularly difficult time for the department’.
In his email to staff announcing his resignation, he said: ‘Many of the claims about how the department has acted that have been made in the media and in the Dáil are not true and I am confident the processes that the Taoiseach has announced will show that to be the case.’ And the backlash among civil servants is growing, with one staff member in the department telling the Irish Daily Mail last night: ‘Many of us feel that we are being unfairly tarnished with the same brush on this.’
Mr Flanagan said Mr Waters had tendered his resignation to him just before the minister had learned that a damning email from May 2015 had surfaced in the department, which outlined to Ms Fitzgerald a strategy to attack Sergeant McCabe’s credibility at the O’Higgins Commission.
Mr Flanagan told the Dáil: ‘I received a phone call from the secretary general of my department. He informed me that, having reached 40 years’ service, he now
‘Dumping on an easy target’
intended to retire and he asked me to inform Cabinet the following morning. For me, this was unexpected and I was taken aback and began to worry.
‘I was still digesting the news when reference was made to an email pertaining to the O’Higgins Commission and Sgt McCabe that had been discovered in the department.’
However, former justice minister Dermot Ahern last night came to the defence of Justice staff, saying: ‘Ultimately, ministers are responsible for their own departments... I find it ludicrous that some people can hint that senior public servants would somehow purposely keep relevant information and documents from the attention of their political masters.
‘To make such suggestions is to do a grave injustice to people who serve our community to the best of their ability.’
The former Fianna Fáil politician added: ‘All sides of the political scene are now dumping on an easy target. So-called reforms, like breaking up Justice into different
departments, will be brought in as a fig leaf to disguise political ineptitude.’
Mr Ahern, who remains in touch with many old colleagues at his former bailiwick, also told the Mail: ‘In amongst all the confusion over the last few days, one thing is clear: officials in the Department of Justice, at all relevant times, brought what they regarded as relevant information to the immediate notice of the then minister and her political advisers.
‘In the last 48 hours or so, there has been an effort to blame all of the crisis on public servants who, individually, will not have an opportunity to give their side of the story until such time as they are, inevitably, called as witnesses before the tribunal.
‘In other words, the politicians were calling for due process when it came to their involvement, and yet do not consider that the same due process should be available to named public servants.’
Mr Ahern also launched a strong defence of Mr Waters, describing him as ‘one of the finest public servants I worked with’. He added that he was ‘not surprised’ that the outgoing secretary general had brought forward his retirement.
Mr Ahern also criticised Ms Fitzgerald, saying: ‘We now know, despite previous protestations from Minister Fitzgerald and her colleagues, that she was made well aware of all of the facts, but, for some unknown reason, neither she nor her political advisers saw the political implications of such dramatic information.’