Minister knew for 6 months about second garda’s Tusla concerns
The details of his case have been known to the Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald for the last six months and to Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan for at least a year.
The whistleblower claims he has been subjected to different forms of intimidation and harassment since he made complaints of malpractice.
More than three years ago there was an incident between the man and his partner — there was no violence though a garda was called to the scene, albeit not by either of the couple.
A few weeks later, the woman was invited to the local Garda station and interviewed for eight hours before, according to her, she was pressured to sign a statement with an implied threat there may be repercussions for the children if she did not.
A senior officer wrote a Notification of Suspected Child Abuse for Tusla about suspected emotional abuse of the children.
Tusla said there was no evidence of abuse detailed and it would not act unless it received further information.
The woman contacted gardaí and withdrew the statement she had made.
Several months later, the couple received a letter from Tusla, inviting them to a meeting with two of its employees. It was agreed that the argument the couple had was the type not unfamiliar to couples in general.
The pair thought the matter had been put to rest, but later the woman received a call from one of the Tusla employees to be told a superior had said a home call was required and that this new instruction was as a result of a call to the superior from a garda. The employee visited the house but appeared to find no issues worth pursuing.
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