The High Court has refused to order the Department of An Taoiseach to disclose confidential material generated during the Quigley inquiry into public relations contracts awarded to Monica Leech and her company.
Ms Leech, a director and shareholder of Monica Leech Communications Limited, is suing Independent Newspapers (Ireland) Limited for libel over about 20 articles concerning contracts awarded by the Office of Public Works and the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. The newspaper denies liability and has pleaded defences including justification, qualified privilege and fair comment.
The dispute before Mr Justice O'Neill concerned third-party discovery rather than the merits of the libel claim. Independent Newspapers sought documents supplied to former Revenue Commissioners chairman Dermot Quigley, along with interview notes, correspondence, memoranda and other material created during his inquiry.
The inquiry had been established by then Taoiseach Bertie Ahern on December 21, 2004 after public concern about the award and cost of the contracts. Participants were given assurances of confidentiality, and the resulting Quigley Report was presented to the Dáil in January 2005.
The newspaper argued that access to the underlying material could assist its defence by allowing it to investigate how the contracts were awarded, cross-examine Leech and identify potential witnesses. The Department opposed disclosure on public interest grounds, saying confidentiality was essential to obtaining candid co-operation from officials and others in inquiries that lacked powers to compel evidence.
Mr Justice O'Neill said the court had to balance two public interests: the administration of justice through access to relevant evidence, and the continued viability of confidential ad hoc inquiries used to investigate matters of public concern.
He held that confidentiality alone would not automatically prevent discovery, but in this case it underpinned a wider public interest. Disclosure could deter future witnesses from co-operating and undermine this type of inquiry.
The judge also noted that the disputed material had been created by the inquiry itself and that both sides still had substantial other evidence available, including the published Quigley Report. He therefore refused the discovery application. The ruling does not determine Leech's libel claim or the truth of the allegations published about her.