The High Court has allowed a renewed dismissal process against Garda Raymond Hegarty to continue but has quashed the notice suspending him from duty.
The case arises from admitted misconduct on 15 March 2017. Garda Hegarty accepted in disciplinary proceedings that, while on duty at Lismore Garda Station, he engaged in a sexual act with a young woman while taking a witness statement from her.
A disciplinary appeal board decided in January 2020 that dismissal was disproportionate and instead imposed a four-week reduction in pay. The Garda Commissioner subsequently invoked a separate statutory power aimed at protecting public confidence in An Garda Síochána. Earlier litigation over that process eventually reached the Supreme Court, which ruled in July 2025 that the public-confidence dismissal power was distinct from disciplinary punishment.
A fresh notice was issued on 15 August 2025 under section 51 of the 2024 Act. It stated that the Commissioner considered Garda Hegarty’s continued membership capable of undermining public confidence and that dismissal was necessary to maintain that confidence.
Ms Justice Nessa Cahill rejected Garda Hegarty’s main judicial review grounds. She held that a new Garda Commissioner could continue a section 51 process begun by a predecessor. She also rejected the argument that the admitted misconduct was inherently incapable of meeting the exceptionally high statutory threshold. Whether dismissal should ultimately occur remains for the Commissioner after considering submissions.
The court also held that section 51 did not require evidence of actual public outrage or unrest before the process could begin. Nor was Garda Hegarty entitled, on the facts of this case, to every document considered by the Commissioner beyond the substantial material already available to him.
However, the separate suspension notice stated that the suspension would last “for the duration of the disciplinary proceedings”, although no such proceedings were underway. The court held that this failed the mandatory requirement to notify Garda Hegarty of the proposed duration of suspension.
The section 51 notice therefore remains in force, but the August 2025 suspension notice was quashed. Costs were left for later determination.