Minister of State for Labour Affairs Tony Killeen yesterday apologised to Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, after it emerged that representations were made from his constituency office for the early release from prison of a convicted murderer and a convicted paedophile.
Mr Killeen confirmed on Monday that in 2003 he had sought the release from prison of a convicted murderer who had served 11 years. This followed the revelation last week that he had sought the early release of sex offender Joseph Nugent on two separate occasions in 2005.
A Government spokeswoman confirmed last night that the Taoiseach had spoken to Mr Killeen by telephone yesterday morning, and that the Minister of State had apologised for the incidents.
She said that Mr Killeen told the Taoiseach he was looking into the matter further, with a view to establishing the facts in each case in order to explain the situation to the families of the victims and apologise for any hurt he caused them. He had also assured the Taoiseach that his work practices would be reviewed and amended to ensure that this would not happen again.
On Monday, Mr Killeen said that in both cases the representations were made without his consent by his constituency staff and he would not have approved of them if he were aware.
In RTÉ radio and television interviews yesterday, Mr Killeen said any reasonable person would accept that "you cannot fix problems until you become aware of them".
He added he had put a new system in place to ensure that from now on he exclusively handled every issue dealing with a prisoner.
Fine Gael justice spokesman Jim O'Keeffe said yesterday that the incident highlighted the need for ministers and all politicians to pay close attention to constituency matters. "I do not think he should have made representations relating to a paedophile and a murderer," he said.
He said that in the past he had instances of families coming to him asking that a husband or son, for example, be given temporary release for Christmas, and that was a different matter.
Former Fine Gael TD and senator Madeleine Taylor-Quinn, a general election candidate in Clare, told The Irish Times yesterday she believed Mr Killeen should have personally monitored all representations made to the Department of Justice by his constituency office.
"I do not accept the explanation about the volume of representations passing through his office causing the oversight. Anything relating to the Department of Justice is highly sensitive. It is not a letter about a headage payment, a medical card, or the early payment of a pension.
"Certain standards are required. Are people elected to make representations for the early release of convicted rapists and murderers?"
Clare Independent TD James Breen said the issue was one for Mr Killeen and Fianna Fáil to sort out. "It has nothing whatsoever to do with me."