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Department of Justice Leah Farrell

Change of plans: Barrister to head up review into Justice Department's email trawl

Concerns had been raised with the Taoiseach about the secretary-general of his own department carrying out the review.

A SENIOR COUNSEL will carry out the review into how the Department of Justice emails, which brought about the resignation of former Tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald, were missed in the first trawl of documents for the Charleton Tribunal.

Barrister Michael Collins has today been appointed to conduct the independent review and will report back to the Taoiseach on or before 19 January 2018.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar had initially asked Martin Fraser, secretary-general of his own department, to complete a full review by Christmas.

However, a number of political parties voiced their unease about a secretary-general of another department carrying out a review into the Department of Justice.

At the time, Social Democrats TD Roisin Shortall called for an independent external expert to carry out the review in order for the public to have full confidence in the investigation.

Making the announcement today, the Taoiseach said that the decision had been made following consultation with the attorney general.

The review will involve a “thorough examination of the actions taken by the Department [of Justice] in responding to such requests, relevant documents and records, the processes used within the Department, and communication to and from senior management and the Minister,” the government press office said.

“The review will set out the facts as found, together with such observations or comments as are considered necessary. It may also advise on what further measures, if any, might be taken to address any concerns arising from the review.”

90429539_90429539 Former Taoiseach Enda Kenny, former Tanaiste Frances Fitzgerald and Secretary General to the Taoiseach Martin Fraser last year. RollingNews.ie RollingNews.ie

Resignation of the Tánaiste

At the end of last month, the country was brought to the brink of an election following the fallout from the controversy relating to what Fitzgerald knew and what action she took as Justice Minister about the legal strategy being used against whistleblower Maurice McCabe by former Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan.

Fianna Fáil sought to force Fitzgerald into stepping down after it was revealed that she ignored an email sent to her in May 2015 regarding McCabe.

However, the issue came to a head when the Justice Department published a number of additional documents relating to whether Fitzgerald knew of the Garda Commissioner’s legal strategy against whistleblower McCabe.

Among the revelations in the trove of documents was an email from Fitzgerald’s private secretary which stated that she had “noted” the email which highlighted a row between the legal team for the then-Garda Commissioner and lawyers for McCabe during the O’Higgins Commission of Investigation.

It was revealed that these additional documents only came to light after the Taoiseach ordered a fresh trawl for documents in the department. It was also confirmed that the documents discovered had not been sent to the tribunal.

Following these revelations, Fitzgerald offered her resignation to the Taoiseach at the end of November, stating that she believed the decision was necessary “to avoid an unwelcome and potentially destabilising general election at this historically critical time”.

Varadkar then ordered an investigation into why the documents only surfaced after he had ordered a trawl of files in the department.

File Photo That email and the Department of Justice. The person who wrote the email did not recall writing it. The minister he wrote for does not recall reading it. If we are to have an election over one email as has been stated repeatedly over recent d Department of Justice Leah Farrell Leah Farrell

The Taoisech told the Dáil today that an announcement as to who will carry out that review will be made in the coming days.

He added that due to the secretary general of the Department of An Taoiseach not carrying out the review, and due to the delay in appointing an external reviewer, the investigation will not be completed by Christmas.

However, he said he wants the review into why documents were not recovered and not sent to the tribunal to be completed as soon as possible.

Read: Zappone ‘truly sorry’ after confidential information about mother and baby home is leaked to media>

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    Mute Adele Sheehan
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    Dec 25th 2017, 10:21 AM

    Oh God, hope they’re okay

    335
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    Mute Leitrim303
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    Dec 25th 2017, 6:50 PM

    @Adele Sheehan: how can be ok when they are bodies. RIP

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    Mute John O'Shea
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    Dec 25th 2017, 7:04 PM

    @Leitrim303: the comment was made 9 hours ago you simpleton.

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    Mute Dlow Brown
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    Dec 25th 2017, 7:17 PM

    @Leitrim303: well done Leitrim.

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    Mute The Red Devil
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    Dec 25th 2017, 11:21 AM

    Christmas is not always a happy time for people please spare a thought for those…….and for the emergency services who are away from their families dealing with whatever comes at them
    Hopefully not as bad as it sounds this story

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    Mute Penney Mortimer
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    Dec 25th 2017, 2:17 PM

    The rainfall yesterday in this area was horrendous . Roads and bridges treacherous when rainfall high. My thoughts are with the families today . And I don’t think anyone should be passing comment on whether there was drinking or not . It’s really none of our business and we need to take into account that at some stage family and friends may read this post and we need to respect their feelings .

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    Mute Mark Murphy
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    Dec 25th 2017, 12:11 PM

    God love them. There is no right or wrong here. Prayers for the family especially on today’s date

    217
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    Mute OU812
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    Dec 25th 2017, 1:30 PM

    @Mark Murphy: there absolutely is right and wrong.

    But let’s wait for the facts to emerge rather than assume what happened.

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    Mute Mark Murphy
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    Dec 25th 2017, 6:13 PM

    @OU812: what a stupid comment

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    Mute Veronica
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    Dec 25th 2017, 3:09 PM

    Oh god absolutely awful. Devastating news for their families.

    I really appreciate our rescue services, they truly are selfless.

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    Mute Dean Burroughs
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    Dec 25th 2017, 11:40 PM

    @Veronica: selfless… It’s their job. Id say professional certainly not selfless.

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    Mute Ben Dunne
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    Dec 26th 2017, 11:19 AM

    @Dean Burroughs:
    Bit more than being professional,most of us don’t risk getting killed helping others. I used to take them for granted until Rescue 116 crashed, used to watch it fly over my house several times a day without a second thought and now I can’t help having tremendous respect for people in that field.

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    Mute Tosh Lavery
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    Dec 25th 2017, 5:01 PM

    Sad, may they Rest In Peace, and the Family’s find the strength to deal with this tragedy

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    Mute Arthur Pewty
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    Dec 25th 2017, 5:29 PM

    Rest in peace young men. My sympathies to all families involved. x

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    Mute Finnster
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    Dec 25th 2017, 2:59 PM

    This is terrible news for these poor families. So tragic , it can happen so easy

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    Mute vero
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    Dec 25th 2017, 12:41 PM

    Please god they will be ok, horrible news at any time of year but worse for the day thats in it

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    Mute patrickmansfield
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    Dec 25th 2017, 6:15 PM

    Prayers to the family and friends of both men,very sad news to get on Christmas morning

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    Mute helen walsh
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    Dec 25th 2017, 1:33 PM

    There was a lot of fog and bad weather, hope they are found alive. Young men are invincible, hope they hadn’t been drinking. Terrible for the families.

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    Mute Alan Chapman
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    Dec 25th 2017, 2:19 PM

    @helen walsh: I think you meant , young men think they’re invincible. Terrible tragedy at any time of year but especially the day that’s in it . Our thoughts also with all the search and rescue services involved in this.

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    Mute Mark Jasper
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    Dec 25th 2017, 9:32 PM

    Well done to my fellow colleagues in search and rescue for a quick and unfortunate recovery today.

    R.I.P. to the two men

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    Mute Siobhan Rosemary
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    Dec 25th 2017, 7:46 PM

    Shocking

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    Mute Michael O'Neill
    Favourite Michael O'Neill
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    Dec 25th 2017, 11:54 PM

    RIP very sad.

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