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GARDA WHISTLEBLOWER CONFIDENTIALITY BREACHED: JUSTICE DEPARTMENT UNDER HELEN McENTEE PROMISED SAFEGUARDS — 13 DAYS LATER, ANOTHER WHISTLEBLOWER’S DISCLOSURE WAS SENT TO GARDAÍ A front page report in today’s Irish Examiner by Paul Hosford reveals that the Department of Justice apologised to a Garda whistleblower after breaching his confidentiality — but just 13 days after telling him that additional safeguards had been introduced to prevent such a breach happening again, the Department sent another Garda whistleblower’s protected disclosure to An Garda Síochána. The first Garda, who has asked to remain anonymous, made a protected disclosure concerning the handling of a child abuse case. He had specifically requested that his details should not be shared with Tusla. Despite that request, in early 2023 he received a telephone call from a Tusla staff member who informed him that his details had been passed on. In March 2023, a senior Department of Justice civil servant acknowledged what had happened, describing the inclusion of an email attachment as a “regrettable oversight” and “an unfortunate case of human error”. Outside agencies were asked to delete the information. The Garda subsequently complained to the Data Protection Commissioner. On 8 December 2023, the Department wrote to him again. It said the relevant unit had been given guidance on redacting documents and had been instructed that a second person should check outgoing correspondence where confidentiality had been assured, specifically to prevent another breach of this nature. Then, just 13 days later, on 21 December 2023, the Department sent the protected disclosure of Detective Superintendent Brian O’Reilly to An Garda Síochána. Helen McEntee was Justice Minister at the time of these events. She has insisted that she always followed whistleblower legislation. The Department has declined to comment on the circumstances of individual protected disclosures, saying it does not “comment on, confirm the existence of, or give details of any specific protected disclosure”. It also maintains that there are robust structures, policies and procedures across the criminal justice sector for managing protected disclosures and that protecting people who make them, including Garda members, is a priority. But the chronology raises serious questions about how those protections were operating in practice. The first Garda had specifically requested confidentiality. His information nevertheless reached Tusla. The Department acknowledged the breach, attributed it to human error and subsequently told him that additional checking procedures had been introduced. Thirteen days after that assurance, Brian O’Reilly’s protected disclosure was sent to An Garda Síochána. Aontú TD Paul Lawless has described the matter as “a very serious issue”. Aontú has threatened to table a motion of no confidence in former Justice Minister Helen McEntee if she does not answer questions in the Dáil about the controversy. Lawless has also challenged the Government’s proposal for statements rather than a question-and-answer session in the Dáil, arguing that statements alone are insufficient. But perhaps the most important question he has raised goes beyond these two cases: How many other Gardaí may have had their identities disclosed by the Department of Justice or the Minister’s office?