Minister for Justice Michael McDowell angrily denied he had wanted to sack Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy.
The denial came amid heated Dáil exchanges with Labour leader Pat Rabbitte, who had asked Taoiseach Bertie Ahern if the Minister had sought to remove the commissioner.
"That is an outrageous allegation," said Mr McDowell, who was sitting on the Government benches. "There is no substance in it. The deputy has no principles." Mr Rabbitte said he had not made any allegation. "I asked a question and I am very interested in the impact it has on the Minister." Mr McDowell said it was a question similar to "when did you stop beating your wife?".
The Labour leader asked Mr Ahern if he had received a note on whether Mr McDowell, or his predecessor in the Department of Justice, John O'Donoghue, had told an untruth in the House.
"Deputy McDowell said he had not received the Carty report, which got him off the hook in terms of the advice he gave Deputy O'Donoghue, and gave him justification to resist the inquiry. Deputy O'Donoghue, unfortunately, told Deputy Howlin a year earlier that he had received the Carty report." Mr Ahern said that he had read what Mr McDowell and Mr O'Donoghue had to say last week.
"Deputy McDowell outlined the sequence of events regarding the furnishing of information by the gardaí during Friday's debate. They made clear that the then minister, Deputy O'Donoghue, behaved impeccably throughout."
The Taoiseach said the Garda Commissioner appointed Assistant Commissioner Carty to examine the handling of the original investigation into the death of Richard Barron.
"In August 2000, the then deputy commissioner Noel Conroy forwarded to the Department of Justice a summary of Assistant Commissioner Carty's report. It was clearly felt that, as the Minister pointed out on Friday, no doubt in good faith, it would not be appropriate to forward the full report, as it was central to a criminal case." The Taoiseach said Mr O'Donoghue had pointed out in a series of oral parliamentary questions during 2000 and 2001, that he had received a report of the investigation from the deputy commissioner, not the Carty report, which was the point made by Mr Rabbitte on Tuesday.
"Deputy O'Donoghue said he had serious concerns about the behaviour of the gardaí in Donegal. In the context of determining what action would be appropriate on foot of those concerns, the attorney general repeatedly requested sight of the Carty report, as did the Minister. There was, therefore, no contradiction in what the two Ministers said last week."
Mr Ahern said the report was not provided to the attorney general or the minister for justice at that stage on the basis of pending criminal cases. A partial version of the Carty report was eventually furnished in November 2001.
Accusing Mr Ahern of engaging in "semantic blather" relating to the Carty report, Mr Rabbitte said that Mr O'Donoghue had led him to believe he had received the report and that, as a result of its apparently not bearing out the allegations made, he felt justified in shooting down any investigation, which was the advice from the then attorney general.
