The Government will come under renewed pressure in the Dáil tomorrow over its handling of the Donegal Garda controversy, with Opposition TDs accusing certain Ministers of failing to act on a confidential Garda report into the affair.
Labour's justice spokesman Brendan Howlin said Minister for Justice Michael McDowell and Minister for Arts John O'Donoghue had questions to answer over why they "failed to act" on a report sent by An Garda Síochána to the Government in August 2000 on irregularities in its Donegal division.
The report, details of which were revealed by The Irish Times on Saturday, was sent to the Department of Justice by then deputy commissioner Noel Conroy, who now serves as Garda Commissioner.
Marked "secret", it contained a summary of Assistant Commissioner Kevin Carty's investigation into allegations of "criminal and unethical behaviour" by Donegal gardaí between 1991 and 1998.
Mr Howlin said it was now beyond doubt that Mr O'Donoghue, the then minister for justice, and Mr McDowell, the then attorney general, had "extensive knowledge of the scale and the serious nature of Garda abuses in Donegal when they were obstructing calls from the Labour Party and others for the establishment of a tribunal of inquiry.
"There is now an obligation on Ministers O'Donoghue and McDowell to explain why, more than a year after they received this report, they insisted on voting down an Opposition motion in November 2001 that would have provided for the establishment of such an inquiry." Both Labour and Fine Gael are due to raise to raise the matter at leaders' questions tomorrow.
Fine Gael's justice spokesman Jim O'Keeffe said: "There appear to be inconsistencies between what was said then and what is said now. Things just don't add up.
"Clearly the Government, including Mr O'Donoghue and Mr McDowell, had enough evidence to set up the tribunal far, far earlier than they did. Explanations are required from both ministers as to why they so doggedly resisted setting up an inquiry for so long." However, representatives for the two Ministers dismissed the allegations.
"Mr O'Donoghue and indeed Mr McDowell have comprehensively stated their positions in the Dáil. Had a tribunal being established when the (Labour/FG) motion was brought forward, it would have prejudiced the proceedings which were then in place," said a spokesman for Mr O'Donoghue.
But Mr Howlin said the issue of legal proceedings was a "smokescreen" as a tribunal was ultimately established despite ongoing Garda prosecutions. Mr O'Donoghue had "gone to ground" since the Morris report was published, Mr Howlin said.
"At a very minimum, it is now essential that Minister O'Donoghue should come into the Dáil next week and make a full statement on why he turned down requests for an inquiry when he knew the situation was so serious. The two-year delay in establishing an inquiry prolonged the suffering and trauma of the McBrearty family and others in Donegal. Those who knew and did nothing must answer to the Dáil."
In his report, Mr Conroy said the evidence unearthed by Mr Carty "raises the most serious concerns about the conduct of some gardaí" in Donegal.
He continued: "Despite the intensity and duration of the investigation a number of matters remain unresolved.
"A pronounced economy of truth from some witnesses and a distinct untruthfulness and obstruction from others leaves the investigation short of its overall objective - to establish the truth.
"There remains an undercurrent of suspicion, which it has not been possible to address . . ."