Department of Justice review to be conducted from outside civil service

A review of the Department of Justice will be carried out by a number of individuals from outside the civil service with expertise in governance as well as management and administration.

Frances Fitzgerald will deliver her first Dáil speech as justice minister today in a debate on the Government’s response to the Guerin Report on how allegations of Garda misconduct were handled.

And here is a second pass of the Guerin Report using better OCR software https://t.co/vTRwm7s7jY

— Gavin Sheridan (@gavinsblog) May 9, 2014

But she will not be in a position to outline the terms of reference for the independent inquiry into the issues raised, until after the publication of the Cooke Report into claims of bugging at the offices of the Garda Ombudsman.

The minister is expected to promise “a justice system that works” including root and branch reform of the administration of justice, including her own department.

She is likely to argue that the problems in the force are “deep rooted” and range from high-level issues such as oversight and the role of whistleblowers, to local administration and internal communication.

Despite reports a review of her department will be carried out by a retired civil servant, it will be conducted by a team with a broad range of experience relevant to the task.

The review will be carried out before the summer and is expected to decide the fate of the department’s secretary general, Brian Purcell. The minister has refused to express confidence in Mr Purcell, saying she will await the outcome of the review.

The Oireachtas justice committee will meet in private this morning to discuss its approach to a meeting with Mr Purcell after he said he would not answer questions about the resignation of the former Garda commissioner Martin Callinan.

Mr Purcell has agreed to appear before the committee to discuss issues surrounding the Guerin Report. But he told them he would not discuss events leading up to Mr Callinan’s resignation when he was sent to his home to deliver a message from the Taoiseach which still remains a mystery.

Asked if he would have a problem with Mr Purcell discussing that issue before the committee, Mr Kenny said it was “the subject of a specific term of reference in the commission of investigation being conducted by Supreme Court Justice Fennelly”.

He said: “I don’t lay down rules and constraints about people as to what they say, he is a senior public official.”

Committee chairman David Stanton (Fine Gael) also said the circumstances of the resignation will be dealt with by the Fennelly Inquiry. But members including Fianna Fáil’s Niall Collins, Sinn Féin’s Pádraig Mac Lochlainn and independent Finian McGrath will push to question Mr Purcell to get to the truth about what happened to the former Garda commissioner.