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Civil servants 'should not be scapegoated' or 'be subjected to a witch hunt', says union

The statement from the AHCPS comes after a week of criticism of civil servants in the Department of Justice.

IN THE WAKE of the recent scandal engulfing former Minister Frances Fitzgerald and the Department of Justice, a public servants union has said its members should not be subjected to a “concerted campaign of denigration”.

The Association of Higher and Civil Public Servants (AHCPS) said that its members will cooperate fully if required to give evidence before the Disclosures Tribunal and that they are committed to principles of integrity, impartiality and accountability.

After Fitzgerald resigned on Tuesday, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar ordered an external investigation to try to find out why the emails discussing the legal strategy adopted by Nóirín O’Sullivan’s legal team against Maurice McCabe were not provided to the tribunal “when they should have been”.

Varadkar added that he “never wants to be put in that position again” where he had been given incorrect information to present to the Dáil. “The House can be sure I will be holding the Department and its senior officials to account,” he said.

That same day, the secretary general of the Department of Justice, Noel Waters retired with immediate effect.

The AHCPS said its members are held to account on their performance and effectiveness on a “regular basis” and is committed to “openness and transparency”.

“However, we take issue with any use of broad brush characterisation of the work of the civil service ahead of the [Charleton] inquiry,” it said. “It does a huge disservice to the thousands of people who work on a daily basis to support government, the public and agencies of the State.

Civil servants are entitled to due process and should not be subjected to a witch hunt or a concerted campaign of denigration ahead of the Inquiry. Nor should they be scapegoated for the purposes of political expediency or in an attempt to overtly simplify complex issues and interactions.

Read: Varadkar tells Dáil that cost of garda overtime will be covered by next year’s budget

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    Mute chris c
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    Dec 6th 2018, 12:31 PM

    RIP, takes me back,9 o’clock.bed.school in morning.

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    Mute Phillip O'Brien
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    Dec 6th 2018, 12:58 PM

    “Small oloroso, thank you Teasy”. RIP.

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    Mute Joe Clery
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    Dec 6th 2018, 1:00 PM

    Well Holy God! , thats another tractor stopped dead from a full rev, with PTO on.. abandoned in the middle of the drills, loader up, doors open.

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    Mute Earth Traveller
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    Dec 7th 2018, 12:08 AM

    @Joe Clery: Not a smarty pants comment from me but could you please explain what you wrote for those of us who don’t have a clue?

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    Mute Rodney Williams
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    Dec 6th 2018, 1:22 PM

    Get up the yard Benji …

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    Mute Colette Kearns
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    Dec 6th 2018, 2:38 PM

    @Rodney Williams: different program!! :-)

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    Mute Do the Bort man
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    Dec 6th 2018, 5:08 PM

    RIP. So many of the cast of Glenroe have pass away over the last few years.

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    Mute Ger Murphy
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    Dec 6th 2018, 10:35 PM

    @Do the Bort man: And so have alot of people who weren’t part of the cast…. trend? Conspiracy?

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    Mute Alan
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    Dec 6th 2018, 12:37 PM

    Shite!!!
    HOMEWORK!!!!!!!

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