Callinan will not seek an injunction against PAC

The Garda Commissioner will not seek a High Court injunction against the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to prevent it from hearing evidence from a serving garda whistleblower — despite last night’s decision by PAC to go ahead with a private hearing tomorrow.

The Irish Examiner understands the threat of legal action ended after Mr Shatter’s decision to refer allegations of abuses in the penalty points system to the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC).

Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan had consulted with the Attorney General’s office to evaluate which options were open to him to prevent PAC from hearing Garda Sergeant Maurice McCabe’s evidence.

However he will not take legal action, thus avoiding what could have become an unprecedented confrontation between the An Garda Síochána and the Houses of the Oireachtas.

Earlier Taoiseach Enda Kenny said Justice Minister Alan Shatter acted responsibly and decisively in referring the penalty points controversy to GSOC.

Mr Kenny informed the Dáil that Mr Shatter had formally written to GSOC and would also write to the Public Accounts Committee requesting that it forward to the commission any documentation that would be relevant to the investigation. The Taoiseach was replying to a question about the whistleblowers from Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams.

Mr Kenny said that PAC always had an independence in the Houses of the Oireachtas to examine reports that were presented by the Comptroller and Auditor General, whose report highlighted that up to one fifth of penalty points were cancelled over a specific period.

However other than financial loss, Mr Kenny said there were other issues Mr Shatter had to take into account.

He said under the Garda Síochána Act of 2005, the minister had a right to refer matters to GSOC “where it appears to the minister to indicate that a member of the Garda Síochána may have committed an offence or behaved in a manner that might justify disciplinary proceedings”.

Earlier the other whistleblower, John Wilson, said he was anxious to appear before the committee to challenge some of the allegations Mr Callinan made during his lengthy appearance last week.

He told RTÉ that he estimated the total cost in lost revenue due to the cancellation of penalty points was between €5m and €8m.

Up to eight Government TDs supported the Public Accounts Committee’s surprise decision to hear evidence from Garda whistleblower Maurice McCabe.