Report’s indictment of the Commissioner, point by point

The PAC report found: 1. The delay in enacting reform since the Commissioner became aware of the financial issues in July 2015 was ‘unacceptable’. 2. The reason given – that informing the Minister of Justice was delayed pending information being gathered – was also viewed as unacceptable. The committee noted that the Fennelly Commission in 2015 said that reporting of serious issues should not be delayed to collect information. 3. Delays in informing the department, C&AG, Garda Audit Committee and Garda Internal Audit Service stemmed from a ‘persistent reluctance’ to act. 4. O’Sullivan’s view that in terms of corporate governance ‘lessons have been learned’ was rejected. The PAC report said: ‘This remains to be seen.’ 5. The Commissioner should have informed the C&AG of any concerns as soon as she knew about them. She didn’t do so.

6. She should have made a Section 41 disclosure to the Department of Justice. Instead, the department was copied in on an email sent to the Attorney General by the force’s head of legal affairs.

7. The Commissioner was unable to assure the PAC that the force was tax-compliant for all five tax numbers.

8. The Commissioner’s assertion that a ‘profound professional disagreement’ among senior management about how to address the financial problems was due to them being new was rejected by the PAC.

9. The Commissioner was called upon to make sure that employees felt free to raise concerns without risk. This followed two senior managers saying they felt that changes to their positions were a result of them having raised concerns.

10. The Commissioner was criticised for the delay in acting on an implementation plan for financial reform, as only five of the 19 recommendations are in place – this is in light of implementation having begun in September 2016 .

11. Ms O’Sullivan’s view that she had taken ‘decisive action’ by setting up a steering group to look at the allegations was rejected. The committee felt that as a working group already existed, all she actually did was to expand that.

12.. The delay in inviting the department to sit on the steering group was also criticised.

13. Ms O’Sullivan was first informed about the financial problems on or before July 27 but told the C&AG on July 31 that all relevant information had been disclosed. It hadn’t.

14. The C&AG was only fully informed of the financial issues at the Garda College 10 months after the Commissioner had first been informed – as Accounting Officer she should have informed the C&AG. This was found to be not acceptable.