Under increasing political pressure, Ministers Helen McEntee and Jim O’Callaghan have pushed a narrative over the past 10 days that because a Garda whistleblower was already known to have made protected disclosures to An Garda Síochána, that Minister McEntee’s identifying him to the Garda Commissioner was not her outing him.
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her → increase → him
Here, the whistleblower in question, a nearly 34-year veteran of An Garda Síochána, Detective Superintendant Brian O’Reilly (who the Irish Mail on Sunday is naming for the first time with his full permission) explains why this ministerial defence simply doesn’t hold water...
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defence → name → water
It is deeply disappointing that former Minister for Justice Helen McEntee has continued to avoid answering the central legal question concerning her handling of my protected disclosure.
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McEntee → continue → disclosure
What statutory authority permitted her to intervene in the handling of a report that the Office of the Protected Disclosures Commissioner (OPDC) had already transmitted to a designated statutory recipient under section 10D of the Protected Disclosures Act?
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Office → permit → Act
Despite repeated questions in the Dáil, she has not publicly identified the specific legislative authority relied upon.
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she → repeat → authority
Her failure to do so raises serious questions about the legal basis for her actions, questions which remain unanswered.
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which → raise → actions
Rather than addressing this fundamental issue, Ms McEntee has focused on correspondence sent by my former legal representatives to the then Garda Commissioner, Drew Harris, apparently seeking to suggest that because he was already aware that I was a person who had made protected disclosures, her department could not have compromised my confidentiality.
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department → address → confidentiality
That explanation is misleading because it fails to distinguish two separate communications and the statutory obligations attached to the disclosure made directly to her.
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it → fail → her
The correspondence received by Commissioner Harris was not identical to the separate protected disclosure I submitted to the Minister.
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I → receive → Minister
My communication to Ms McEntee included earlier correspondence to then Commissioner Harris as an attachment, but the ministerial submission was expressly identified as a protected disclosure in its own right.
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submission → include → right
I had raised serious concerns about alleged wrongdoing within An Garda Síochána over a number of years.
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I → raise → years
Having exhausted my attempts to have those matters properly addressed through Garda management, I turned to the then Minister for Justice Ms Helen McEntee through the statutory reporting channel provided under section 8 of the Protected Disclosures Act.
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I → exhaust → Act
The Minister transmitted my disclosure to the Protected Disclosures Commissioner, who on October 3, 2023 designated the then Department of Justice secretary general, Oonagh McPhillips, as the appropriate statutory recipient.
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who → transmit → recipient
That designation carried specific legal responsibilities under section 10E, including assessment, diligent follow-up and communication with the reporting person.
Yet I received no statutory acknowledgement or feedback from the designated recipient or staff acting on her behalf.
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I → carry → behalf
The OPDC confirmed in January 2024 that Ms McPhillips did not object to her statutory appointment.
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McPhillips → confirm → appointment
On December 21, 2023, my protected disclosure was redirected to An Garda Síochána following a direction by Minister McEntee.
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disclosure → protect → McEntee
Even more concerning, my identifying information appeared in the titles of attachments transmitted by her Department to senior Garda management, including an individual implicated in my allegations.
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information → identify → allegations
The fact that Commissioner Harris was aware that I was a person who had made protected disclosures did not extinguish my statutory right to confidentiality or relieve the Department of its independent obligations under section 16.
Former Justice minister and now Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ireland, Helen McEntee TD
The Government’s own statutory guidance, published in November 2023, expressly cautioned against revealing a reporting person’s identity to somebody who was the subject of an allegation.
I therefore ask Minister McEntee to identify the legal basis for redirecting my disclosure to Garda management, explain why my identifying information was transmitted to those particular recipients, and specify which provision of section 16 was relied upon.
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provision → make → section
A Minister cannot adequately answer a question about a separate disclosure of confidential information simply by stating that someone else already knew the whistleblower’s identity.
Given that Minister McEntee had no role in the consideration of Section 102B following the statutory appointment of Ms Oonagh McPhillips, I also question the basis upon which Minister McEntee purported to determine that my serious allegations concerning the then Garda Commissioner did not meet the threshold for an investigation under section 102B of the Garda Síochána Act.
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allegations → answer → Act
If consideration of section 102B was appropriate, which is expressly denied, the questions remain as to: What evidence was considered?
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evidence → deny → section
Who undertook that assessment?
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Who → undertake → assessment
Why was further information not sought from me through the designated statutory process before that conclusion was reached?
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conclusion → seek → process
The former Minister was entitled to receive my original ministerial report under section 8 and was required to transmit it to the OPDC.
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Minister → entitle → OPDC
Current Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan, who has backed Helen McEntee's stance
What remains unexplained is the legal basis for her subsequent intervention after the OPDC had designated another suitable person to handle the disclosure.
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OPDC → back → disclosure
I welcome that Ms McEntee has now publicly accepted responsibility for directing the matter back to Garda management.
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McEntee → welcome → management
However, accepting responsibility for making a decision is not the same as establishing that the decision was lawfully authorised.
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decision → accept → decision
I believe I am entitled to a proper explanation and, if mistakes were made, an acknowledgement of those mistakes.
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mistakes → believe → mistakes
It is equally disappointing that the current Minister for Justice Mr Jim O’Callaghan has publicly focused on an alleged non-engagement with a subsequent GSOC/Fiosrú process without adequately addressing the serious questions surrounding the handling of my original protected disclosures.
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Minister → focus → disclosures
Instead, the Minister publicly referred to a separate investigation process whose statutory basis, scope and relationship with the original protected-disclosure process remain matters of serious concern to me.
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basis → refer → me
I consider his public characterisation incomplete and misleading, particularly insofar as it places responsibility upon me without adequately addressing the preceding procedural concerns.
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it → consider → concerns
I am in the process of writing to Minister O’Callaghan seeking clarification and correction of that account.
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I → write → account
The public deserves an accurate explanation of what happened to my protected disclosures, who made the decisions concerning them and what legal powers were exercised.
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powers → deserve → them
I made my protected disclosures in the public interest.
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I → make → interest
I was entitled to expect that the statutory safeguards enacted by the Oireachtas would be respected.
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safeguards → entitle → Oireachtas
I am not seeking special treatment.
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I → seek → treatment
I am seeking accountability, the protection of my statutory rights and a proper explanation for decisions that have never been satisfactorily justified.
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that → seek → decisions
Until those questions are answered, the public should not be invited to believe that the matter has been adequately explained or that responsibility for the failures of the process can simply be placed upon the whistleblower.
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responsibility → answer → whistleblower
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we → accept → article
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