Curtin committee faces fresh delays

DELAYS dogging the Oireachtas probe into Judge Brian Curtin’s conduct mean TDs and Senators may not get to debate his possible impeachment until near Christmas.

The special committee set up to collect evidence regarding the judge’s alleged misbehaviour had hoped to present its report in September, but may now not be able to until November — or later if there is a fresh legal challenge.

The Tralee-based circuit court judge was acquitted in 2004 on charges of possessing child pornography when it emerged that a search warrant used to search his residence was out of time.

The committee, chaired by Fianna Fáil TD Denis O’Donovan, is in a race against time as it must complete its work before the next general election — expected to be called late next spring — or the impeachment motion will lapse.

The seven-member committee had hoped to begin full hearings within the next few weeks. That has now been put back to October.

The judge will have full legal representation at the week-long hearings which will be held in private.

Mr O’Donovan said the major reason for the committee’s delays had been the Supreme Court action taken by the judge to try and have the Oireachtas move halted.

“We hope to be able to present our report by early November, providing there are no more legal challenges which is why we have to proceed carefully. I certainly do not expect it to go beyond Christmas,” he said.

Experts trawling the contents of the judge’s computer completed their task in July, but their findings have not yet been made available to committee members ahead of the hearings.

The all-party committee took possession of the computer from gardaí in May after an 18-month legal wrangle that culminated in the Supreme Court deciding it could be inspected.

The computer, alleged to contain images of child pornography, has been examined by two experts who each have taken a ‘mirror image’ of all information on the computer.

Judge Curtin, who acted as a circuit court judge for just six months after his appointment in November 2001, has been on full pay, currently €149,461 a year, since he ceased hearing cases following a garda raid on his home in 2002. His legal bill arising from the committee’s probe will be picked up by the taxpayer.

The committee has also served orders to examine the judge’s financial records, to establish whether or not he subscribed to the Texan website which led to the launch of Operation Amethyst in Ireland.

The judge has declined to comment on the matter, pleading earlier this year for his family to be allowed privacy.