Garda Commissioner Noirin O’Sullivan has insisted she does not believe Garda whistleblower Sgt Maurice McCabe acted with malice.
A commission chaired by Mr Justice Kevin O’Higgins examined claims by Sgt McCabe of Garda malpractice.
In a statement on Monday night, Ms O’Sullivan insisted she does not believe Sgt McCabe was malicious as had been suggested in some media reports about exchanges at the commission which took place in private session.
"Like every member of An Garda Síochána, Sgt Maurice McCabe's contribution is valued and the service has changed for the better in response to the issues about which he complained," she said in a statement on Monday night.
“I want to make it clear that I do not - and have never, regarded Sergeant McCabe as malicious.
“Any member of An Garda Síochána who raises issues will be fully supported. Each and every one of them must know they have the right and responsibility to raise their concerns and be confident that they will be listened to and addressed.
“They won’t always be right and we in management won’t always be right either.
“But we are on a journey towards a markedly better policing service and we will learn from every mistake we make.”
Ms O’Sullivan also apologised to victims who had been failed by the Garda.
“Our immediate concern, arising out of the O’Higgins Commission, must be with victims who believe - with justification, they were not dealt with properly by An Garda Síochána. We are sorry the victims did not get the service they were entitled to, and we will seek to work with them.”
Last Friday, the Irish Examiner newspaper reported the detail of what it said were unpublished documents relating to the O’Higgins commission’s work.
The newspaper claims the documents showed that when Mr Justice Kevin O’Higgins asked the commissioner’s barrister whether “you are attacking [SGT MCCABE’S ]motivation and attacking his character”, counsel for the commissioner replied: “Right the way through.”
There is no mention of the exchange in the commission’s final report, published last week.
The newspaper further quoted Sgt McCabe’s counsel Michael McDowell SC objecting, claiming he said at the commission: “Attacking one of our own members of our force who is in uniform and on oath when in circumstances where in public she [the commissioner] promoted him to a professional standards unit, and in public she has indicated that she accepts that he was acting in good faith et cetera, et cetera, and in private she sends in a legal team to excoriate him.”
The O’Higgins report is the latest into controversies in the justice and policing areas over recent years.
A previous report, carried out by Seán Guerin SC, into the claims by Sgt Mau McCabe led to Alan Shatter resigning as minister for justice.
Mr Shatter has said Taoiseach Enda Kenny “encouraged” him to resign following the publication of the Guerin report, which recommended a full commission of investigation.
The O’Higgins report is the result of that commission of investigation.
