Newly-appointed Tánaiste Mary Coughlan says she believes the issues surrounding the misconduct of gardaí in Co Donegal, detailed in the latest Morris tribunal report, were being addressed.
This follows the publication of the tribunal’s sixth report yesterday which upheld a series of allegations against gardaí investigating of the death of Richie Barron in 1996, including the mistreatment of people in custody and several wrongful arrests.
Ms Coughlan today acknowledged the seriousness of issues arising from the report but insisted lessons have been learned and that new management structures were in place to avoid a recurrence of such events.
In an interview on RTEradio, she said the episode had been very difficult for members of the force who have found themselves let down by the actions of others and "from a public vilification even though they may not have been involved".
Ms Coughlan also denied there was anything “untoward” in the publication of the report on the same day as the election of a new Taoiseach, saying that the Minister for Justice had been statute-bound to do so.
Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan today also defended his decision, as minister for justice, to publish the report yesterday, claiming the timing was dictated by a statutory timeframe.
The decision to publish the tribunal's latest findings yesterday drew strong criticism from Opposition parties who claimed the timing was “calculated and cynical”.
But Mr Lenihan said today: “There was a very tight statutory timeframe in relation to the publication of this document and yesterday was the last day for it.”
He dismissed claims the publication of the tribunal’s sixth report was specifically timed.
"There were was a particular sequencing in this matter, and the report was required to be published by yesterday and I could not postpone the matter any further," he said in an interview on RTÉ's Morning Ireland.
Fine Gael’s justice spokesman Charlie Flanagan yesterday accused Mr Lenihan and the Government of attempting to bury the findings.
Labour’s Pat Rabbitte said the Government wanted to "swamp the bad news of yet more critical findings of Garda conduct in Donegal in the tsunami of news coverage that will mark the election of the Taoiseach and appointment of new Ministers".
Mr Lenihan is understood to have received the report on April 24th from the inquiry chairman, Mr Justice Frederick Morris. He was obliged by statute to publish it within 14 days.
The report detailed a catalogue of wrongdoings by gardaí in Co Donegal in their investigation of the death of Richie Barron in 1996.
The tribunal found that several people in connection with Barron’s death were mistreated while in Garda custody and that many people were also unlawfully arrested.