Gardaí in the force’s Southern Region have been tasked with carrying out a review into allegations about Minister of State Niall Collins TD. Last month Web Summit organiser, Paddy Cosgrave, said he had submitted a 28-page statement of complaint to the Garda, which he says relates to the Fianna Fáil TD and requires investigation.
That statement was submitted to the office of Garda Commissioner Drew Harris on May 30th, according to Mr Cosgrave. It was decided by Garda management the lengthy statement should be reviewed to determine if a criminal investigation is warranted.
As Mr Harris’s office does not carry out investigations, or pre-investigation reviews, the allegations submitted by Mr Cosgrave must be referred on to another section of the Garda. In this case, the referral has been made to Assistant Commissioner Eileen Foster. She is the lead Garda member in charge of policing in the Southern Region, where Mr Collins is based.
In reply to queries, Garda Headquarters, Phoenix Park, Dublin, said it did not comment on “named individuals”. “An Garda Síochána is carrying out an assessment to examine whether there was any criminality involved, in respect of certain matters related to alleged breaches of the Local Government Act 2001 in the Southern Garda Region,” it added. Comment was awaited from Mr Collins at the time of publication.
The Ditch news website, which Mr Cosgrave has funded, has published a series of stories on the disposal by Limerick County Council of a parcel of land to the wife of Mr Collins, Dr Eimear O’Connor, in 2008. Mr Collins attended a meeting of the Bruff local electoral area committee in January 2007 which discussed the land, located in the village of Patrickswell.
Mr Collins has said he should have recused himself from the meeting and that he knew his wife was interested in buying the land. But he has insisted he did not break the law.
About four weeks ago the Garda confirmed it was carrying out an assessment to examine whether there had been any breaches of the Local Government Act, 2001, in the Southern Garda Region. That review commenced after an anonymous complaint to the Garda Confidential Line. The review underway since early May is effectively a scoping exercise to determine if a criminal investigation is warranted. The statement lodged by Mr Cosgrave on May 30th, and relating to the same matters, is now also being reviewed in the same way by gardaí.
SIPO
Meanwhile, The Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO) has declined to investigate a complaint made about a misleading property declaration made by Fine Gael TD Damien English in 2008 on the grounds it was not “of sufficient gravity”.
The Meath West TD resigned as Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise after admitting his failure to declare his ownership of another residential property when making a planning application to build a house to Meath County Council.
Mr English was a back bench TD at the time he made the incorrect declaration, which was reported by The Ditch, earlier this year. He resigned his position when the facts came to light.
Following his resignation, People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy wrote to SIPO in February asking it to investigate if his failure to disclose the property breached the Ethics in Public Office Act.
In a brief letter to Mr Murphy last month, a copy of which has been seen by The Irish Times, SIPO said it had considered the complaint at a recent meeting.
The Commission had noted, Mr Murphy was told, that Mr English had completed his annual declarations in line with the guidelines on compliance.
“Therefore, the Commission was of the view that the complaint was not of sufficient gravity to warrant investigation,” the letter stated.
“The Commission accordingly closed the complaint and no further action will be taken on this matter.”
Mr Murphy described the decision of SIPO not to pursue the matter further as a shame and asked if the Commission did not investigate something he regarded as “as clearcut as that”, who would it investigate?
At at the time the failure was reported Mr English accepted he had not disclosed the required information to the Council, saying he had not lived up to the standard required.
Mr English was not available for comment on Sunday.
On February 3, Labour made the complaint to the Committee, arguing that it was of the view Mr English may have “committed a specified act under Section 4 of the Standards in Public Office Act 2001 by providing false information on a planning application”. That complain is still being dealt with.
