Search the record

defective holsters - all of which put gardaí at risk. Those speaking out are senior members of An Garda Síochána. They include Dr. Donal Corcoran, the person who was in charge of the Garda protected disclosures office; Ms Rose Sweeney, a case manager; and Detective Superintendent Brian O’Reilly … head of the Garda Technical Bureau. What is absolutely astonishing here is that the very person running the protected disclosures office, Dr. Corcoran, and another charged with managing protected disclosures cases, Ms Sweeney, were themselves forced to make a protected disclosure. The question is: why? They state they

Garda powers, including powers of arrest and detention. Since then, a number of significant Supreme Court decisions, most notably in the cases of Corcoran and Quirke, have identified deficiencies in the existing law governing search warrants, particularly in relation to electronic devices and privileged material. These judgments highlighted … protection of fundamental rights. The Bill must also be understood in the context of wider legal developments. The Supreme Court decisions in Corcoran and Quirke, together with judgments of the Court of Justice of the European Union, including in Landeck, underscore the need for a transparent, rights-compliant

reason this legislation is being brought forward relates to the very significant decisions given by the Supreme Court in the case of Emmett Corcoran and indeed the Quirke decision as well. This legislation is providing protection to privilege. If we look at section 10 of the Criminal Justice … concerned about it is that, as anyone who reads objectively the judgments of Mr. Justice Collins and Mr. Justice Hogan in the Corcoran decision will know, there is a question mark over section 10. It needs to be amended rapidly because, in fairness to the case taken

line to expose the truth. They will speak for themselves on RTÉ this evening. Earlier today, we heard the voices of Dr. Donal Corcoran and Detective Superintendent Brian O'Reilly, two of the whistleblowers, on "Morning Ireland". The detective superintendent said that those who came forward were silenced … badly whistleblowers were treated and about the entire reconfiguration of the protected disclosures unit in response to the allegations made. We heard Dr. Corcoran say this morning that the Garda is now in a worse position than it was in the time of Maurice McCabe. Clearly, there

relating to arrest largely absent. Some changes, as the Minister made clear, are responding to some Supreme Court decisions in the Quirke and Corcoran cases and EU obligations arising from the Landeck judgment. Those precedents have arisen in the years since 2021 and it is right that … either. Why? I am now getting in to a deeply concerning area in relation to journalistic privilege and privilege in general. Following the Corcoran judgment, the Government is now requiring that An Garda Síochána must make clear to a judge when it anticipates that privileged material will

protected disclosure departments. This legislation in regard to SLAPP is happening at the same time that continued penalisation is happening against Dr. Donal Corcoran and Detective Superintendent Brian O'Reilly. I ask the Minister of State to intervene and cease that because if we believe in protecting whistleblowers

briefed him on that. Be that as it may, the nub of this is simply this. Tonight, the very person, Dr. Donal Corcoran, who was in charge of running the protected disclosures office will tell a story of how he and others experienced and observed consistent undermining

that Donal Corcoran

rights of journalists to protect sources. This is arguably required to bring the law into line with the 2023 decision in Emmett Corcoran v. the Attorney General where the Supreme Court judge, Mr. Justice Gerard Hogan, stated that the general "protection of sources is integral to free press

another programme for Government commitment being delivered by the Minister. The Bill is also a response to recent legal judgments. In Corcoran v. the Commissioner 2023, the Supreme Court upheld the protection of journalistic sources as a cornerstone of a free press and called for urgent legislative action