TÁNAISTE SIMON HARRIS has said he would support an inquiry into the failed prosecutions of gardaí in Limerick, which has been welcomed by Labour TD Alan Kelly, who raised the matter in the Dáil today.

Yesterday, the case against three gardaí was withdrawn by the Director of Public Prosecutions. 

The three accused, retired Garda Peter O’Donnell, 52, Garda Paul Baynham, 37, and Garda Niall Deegan, 51, were all serving in the Limerick Garda Division in Road Policing and had been charged with perverting the course of justice in connection with the alleged termination of road traffic offence tickets. They all pleaded not guilty.

The gardaí have been suspended since 2020, when a probe by the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation (NBCI) began.

Theirs was the latest in a series of cases against eight gardaí in Limerick to end without conviction or collapse altogether. 

Speaking in the Dáil, Kelly noted that Taoiseach Micheál Martin had already said there should be an inquiry into the cases. 

“Why was Limerick picked on?” Kelly asked. 

“These 11 gardaí have had their lives destroyed because once you’re suspended or charged as a garda, nothing is ever the same again.

“The morale of the force in the mid-west has collapsed, the prosecution of many criminal cases has never went ahead and likely these 11 gardaí will sue the State, and rightly so,” Kelly said. 

Harris agreed that the people affected by the prosecutions deserve answers. 

“I do think there needs to be further examination and inquiry into these matters,” Harris said. 

“The form that that takes, or how that is brought about,” is a matter Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan, he said. 

Harris said he had not yet had a chance to discuss the issue with O’Callaghan but added that he shares the view of Taoiseach Micheál Martin, who has also said an inquiry is warranted. 

“I can only imagine the lives put on hold, stress, strain, the family pressures that all of this has caused people and I think that those people deserve answers and an explanation.”  

In a later statement, Kelly welcomed Harris’ support for an inquiry. 

“Given that it seems the whole house of cards for all of these cases revolved around retired Superintendent Eamon O’Neill’s collapsed prosecution, and everyone else being collateral damage, it is welcome that the Tánaiste is supportive of an inquiry into what happened in Limerick.”

Kelly said that next week, the Labour Party will use its Private Members’ Time “to address a range of issues facing Gardaí in this country, including an examination into issues in Limerick”. 

“Minister O’Callaghan cannot bury his head in the sand any longer. We need to see real and meaningful action for Gardaí.”