Taoiseach backs Commissioner amid uproar at timing of holiday
TAOISEACH Leo Varadkar has backed Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan amid growing disquiet over her decision to go on holiday at the height of the crisis over the finances at Templemore Training College.
There has been a renewed chorus of calls for her removal from Opposition TDs following the publication of the damning Public Account’s Committee (PAC) report on Templemore as well as criticism of the “optics” of her taking the five-week break.
While ministers are under orders to publicly support the Garda Commissioner, a number have privately expressed concern about the ongoing controversy. Sources told the Irish Independent it was hoped a change of Taoiseach and justice minister would see the agenda “move on”.
“She’s not helping us. The Templemore report was bad enough but going on holiday right now is stretching it,” said one minister.
Ms O’Sullivan last night attended a meeting of the new Government Security Committee despite officially being on leave.
Speaking afterwards, Mr Varadkar insisted the Government has full confidence in Ms O’Sullivan. In relation to her holiday, he said: “I’ve lots of responsibilities as Taoiseach... but regulating any individual’s annual leave isn’t one of them. If people are entitled to annual leave, they’re entitled to take it.”
Elsewhere, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said: “I respect the fact that she has a plan in relation to being away, that she’s doing it.” Mr Donohoe added he has “full confidence” in Ms O’Sullivan.
A deputy commissioner is assuming her role while she is away, and will attend next week’s meeting of the Policing Authority where the PAC report on the serious financial irregularities at Templemore will be discussed. The PAC found there were grounds for Ms O’Sullivan to inform the justice minister of issues at the college as soon as the Commissioner became aware of them in July 2015.
It also said it was “unacceptable” she didn’t inform the State-spending watchdog, the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG), at the same time. The C&AG was told 10 months later. Mr Varadkar questioned both of these key findings. He argued: “Ultimately it is the judgment of the Garda Commissioner to decide whether or not the minister and the C&AG should be informed and at what point.”
PAC member Sinn Féin TD Mary Lou McDonald last night said Mr Varadkar’s defence of Ms O’Sullivan is “extraordinary and unprecedented”.
She accused him of being content the justice minister was “kept in the dark” about Templemore and of challenging the authority of the C&AG.
Separately, it was agreed at the security committee meeting that the Garda, Defence Forces, Ambulance Service and Fire Brigade take part in training exercises involving simulated terror attacks, similar to one conducted in Dublin last week.