Phone-tapping inquiry report due out this week

The Government and An Garda Síochána look set to be dragged into yet another damaging policing crisis after Taoiseach Enda Kenny confirmed that the release of the Fennelly report into phone-tapping is due within days.

Mr Kenny told yesterday’s Cabinet meeting that the report into decades of allegedly illegal garda activity will be released “as soon as we can”, with his two-day visit to Germany from tomorrow limiting the publication windows available.

Mr Kenny said the document spans 740 pages and contains an 85-page executive summary outlining the impact of the alleged recording of thousands of phone calls since 1980.

While declining to provide further details on the report in a later Dáil debate, as it is currently being examined by attorney general Máire Whelan, Mr Kenny said the document was sent to the Department of the Taoiseach after 6pm last Friday and is due to be imminently released.

It is understood that while Mr Kenny could delay the release of the report until after the next Cabinet meeting in order to fully inform his colleagues of its contents, he may authorise its publication before the weekend.

This is allowed as the report was sent to the Department of the Taoiseach and subsequently to the attorney general.

Mr Kenny’s two-day visit to Germany tomorrow to meet Chancellor Angela Merkel means that, if this happens, the report is unlikely to be released on either Thursday or Friday.

The interim report of the Fennelly commission led to calls for Mr Kenny to resign when it was released in late summer 2015 due to its findings over the circumstances which caused the retirement of former garda commissioner Martin Callinan.

Its release sparked controversy when it was released almost two years ago due to the fact the lengthy and complex report was published on a Government website without a press conference, shortly before Mr Kenny gave an interview on RTÉ before avoiding media events for a number of days.

The commission’s final report, which is focussed specifically on the phone tapping controversy, is similarly likely to lead to a fresh crisis for Government due to the fact its findings could impact on previous court decisions against defendants.