Question mark over O’Sullivan departure deal

Opposition parties are demanding to know if the Government did a special deal with Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan over her shock resignation.

The Government was last night tight-lipped on whether a €300,000 lump sum and lucrative €100,000-a-year pension, which Ms O’Sullivan would have qualified for in November, will still be awarded to her despite the early departure.

Ms O’Sullivan, who announced her resignation yesterday evening, had faced calls to stand aside for some time following the numerous scandals which have plagued the force in recent years.

Ms O’Sullivan said she was stepping down because the core of her job had now turned into responding to an “unending cycle of requests, questions, instructions, and public hearings” which was preventing her from implementing a “deep cultural and structural reform”.

A damning report into the falsification of almost 1.5m breath tests was published last week, while a Policing Authority report is due in the coming weeks.

Ms O’Sullivan was also mired in the Templemore financial mismanagement scandal and is due to give evidence at the Disclosure Tribunal into alleged smear campaigns against Garda whistleblowers.

Opposition TDs, including Jim O’Callaghan of Fianna Fáil, said the resignation must act as a catalyst for change so faith can be restored in the force. But confusion remained around whether Ms O’Sullivan had received a sweetener.

Labour justice spokesman Alan Kelly said: “The Government has to clarify that they have not done a deal with the Garda commissioner and that she is going of her own volition.

“We need to know whether she signed a deal with Government on this.”

Sinn Féin deputy leader Mary-Lou McDonald welcomed the departure, but added: “With anything that involves public money there has to be transparency around it. I have no idea what arrangements were arrived at but it would be important that they would be out in the open.”

It had been reported at the weekend that Ms O’Sullivan would be in line to receive a lump sum of up to €300,000 as well as a €100,000 annual pension if she stayed at the helm until November. She would have been three years in the position on November 25, and would thus qualify for the payments, as pensions and lump sums are calculated on the best three consecutive years’ salary in the 10 years before retirement.

Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan told the Irish Examiner he had “nothing to add” to a statement issued by his department which did not address the issue of the terms of her departure.

Mr Flanagan thanked her for her 36 years of service.

“Commissioner O’Sullivan showed enormous resilience, determination, and integrity in addressing those challenges and, in particular, in instituting a radical reform programme to modernise our policing service,” he said.

Taoiseach Leo Vardakar thanked her for her service and wished her success in the future.

“The Government will now consider how best to accelerate the crucial and essential reform programme in the months and years ahead,” he said.

Ms O’Sullivan was appointed after the exit of Martin Callinan in 2014. He left amid issues over the quashing of penalty points and the treatment of whistle-blowers.

Deputy Commissioner Dónall Ó Cualáin has been appointed acting commissioner with full powers.

Mr Flanagan will consult with the chair of the Policing Authority on a process to appoint a successor.