Taoiseach's spin on Fennelly Report simply not convincing – must consider his position

TAOISEACH Enda Kenny should consider his position and the Dáil should be recalled in light of the publication of the Fennelly Report into the resignation of Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan in March 2014, says Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD.

The report looked at the controversy of early 2014 when it was alleged that Enda Kenny effectively dismissed the Garda Commissioner following a series of stories by Garda whistleblowers disclosing serious widespread malpractice by gardaí in relation to the quashing of motoring penalty points.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (pictured) says that by dispatching the Secretary General of the Department of Justice, Brian Purcell, to the home of Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan on 24 March 2014, An Taoiseach had the "obvious effect of conveying to Commissioner Callinan that he should resign".

According to the report:

"The Garda Commissioner interpreted the message delivered to him by Mr Purcell on behalf of the Taoiseach, with all its attendant circumstances, as an indication that he should consider his position."

The Commission Report described this as a reasonable conclusion for the Garda Commissioner to reach.

The Garda Commissioner said of the meeting:

"I was left in no doubt what I had to do then that evening. I was left in absolutely no doubt."

The next morning he stepped down.

Enda Kenny says Purcell was only sent to his home to gather as much information as possible about the issue of the recording of non-emergency phone calls in and out of Garda stations throughout the state ahead of a Cabinet meeting.

Commissioner Callinan had sent a letter to the Department of Justice on 10 March on this issue but Enda Kenny says he was not made aware of it until after Callinan had retired.

He claims it was only when he was informed of the malpractice that he sent Mr Purcell to the Garda Commissioner's home to gather information on the taping and had he been aware of the letter this would not have been necessary.

In the report, the Attorney General says the taping of phone calls (which had been going on for decades) was a "wholesale violation of the law by An Garda Síochána" which had been going on "the length and breadth of the country in Garda stations without any apparent authorisation under any of the legislation". She went on to describe this as "criminal activity" by the police service.

The report also raises concerns in relation to the destruction of the SIM card of the Garda Commissioner's mobile phone, the shredding of ten bin-bags of documents from his office, and a personal diary which could not be located.

Aengus Ó Snódaigh says the Taoiseach's "less than-convincing spin has only served to make matters worse".

He says that, throughout the scandal, Fine Gael and Labour have been focused on political damage control rather than addressing root problems:

"The Taoiseach’s spin in relation to the findings of this report is not credible and he must now consider his position. The Dáil must be reconvened next week to discuss this report and the evidence contained therein in relation to serious and multiple Government failures."