Reflecting on Fennelly: Change well under way at Justice

The past 15 months have seen a lot of change in the justice sector, writes Frances Fitzgerald.

THE past 15 months have been a period of substantial change in the justice sector. However in the aftermath of the publication of the interim report of the Fennelly Commission of Investigation, there have been some ill-informed suggestions that no change has taken place in the sector or the promised reforms have stalled. The facts show a very different picture.

When I took over the justice portfolio in May 2014 the department had just come through perhaps the most difficult period in its history. It was immediately clear there was a large body of work to restore the department to a place where, in the eyes of the public, it commanded respect, confidence and trust in the administration of the justice system. That is why, on my appointment, one of the first things I did was to establish the independent review group of the department, with a high-calibre team chaired by Kevin Toland. Their report was published in July 2014.