TD accuses Helen McEntee of depriving whistleblower of legal protections

Labour TD Alan Kelly accuses former justice minister of 'usurping' the statutory direction of the Office of the Protected Disclosures Commissioner

Then justice minister Helen McEntee speaks to the media at the AGSI conference in Naas, Co Kildare in September, 2023, the same month that Detective Superintendent Brian O’Reilly sent his protected disclosure to the minister. File picture: PA

Minister Helen McEntee has been accused of exposing a garda whistleblower and "depriving him of the legal protections he was entitled to" during her time in the Department of Justice.

Labour TD Alan Kelly accused Ms McEntee of either "incompetence or a mistake" in her handling of a protected disclosure and claimed in the Dáil that she "acted without legal authority", an accusation that was strongly denied by the minister.