Heather Humphreys again denies political interference in animal cruelty case

Speaking during Newstalk's presidential debate on Tuesday, Ms Humphreys said the letter had not been passed on by her, but by a staff member, and contained no endorsement or suggestions.

There was no political interference in an animal cruelty case in which a letter was passed on to the Department of Agriculture from her office, Heather Humphreys has said.

Ms Humphreys said a case in which she received a letter from a family member of a farmer had been "well aired", and she passed the letter on to the Department of Agriculture without comment or a covering letter.

The case was subsequently dropped.

Last month, The Sunday Times reported former Department of Agriculture official Kieran Devlin, a retired veterinary inspector, said he believed it was the intervention by Ms Humphreys that prompted the collapse of the investigation.

Speaking during Newstalk's presidential debate on Tuesday, Ms Humphreys said the letter had not been passed on by her, but by a staff member, and contained no endorsement or suggestions. 

She said former agriculture minister Dara Calleary had confirmed there was no political interference in the case.

I abhor animal cruelty, and people who don't look after their animals shouldn't have them, and that's my position on that. I received a communication or a letter from a constituent, my staff sent it to the Department of Agriculture.

"I made no comment and no recommendation," she added.

Her opponent Catherine Connolly was pressed on her employment of a woman who had been convicted of firearms offences, saying she had broken no rules and had not been contacted by gardaí about Ursula Shannon's accessing of Leinster House.

“This woman is an absolute success story of the prison system,” Ms Connolly said.

“On the ‘risk’, let me say that this woman was with me every day. I know nothing in the sense of what the concerns were from the guards because nobody ever communicated with me,” she added.

"I find it absolutely unacceptable that this person's privacy has been trespassed upon unforgivably," Ms Connolly said. "I did everything right, and so did the person."

Ms Humphreys said Ms Connolly had endangered the Houses of the Oireachtas.

"This woman was found in possession of guns and a number of other things," she said.

Asked about the case of Shane O'Farrell, a cyclist killed by a man who had been out on bail, Ms Humphreys said she was "sorry if [Mr O'Farrell's mother] had felt I did not do enough". 

The O'Farrell family has said it does not accept Ms Humphreys had done all she could to represent them as they sought justice, which culminated in a State apology earlier this year.

"I did make representations on her behalf, and I'm sorry if she thinks I didn't do enough. I did my best, and I'm glad that she has got a State apology."