Nóirín O'Sullivan faces tribunal review over McCabe treatment

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

The Disclosures Tribunal was examining the treatment of Sergeant Maurice McCabe at the O'Higgins Commission. Chairman Mr Justice Peter Charleton outlined questions for lawyers to address in submissions. The proceedings were reported on 8 February 2018.

The tribunal was examining whether former garda commissioner Nóirín O'Sullivan inappropriately relied on unjustified grounds to discredit McCabe at the commission. Charleton said he saw no evidence of an aggressive legal strategy and did not believe the commission had handled matters inappropriately.

He also asked whether there was evidence of a senior-level effort to go after McCabe at the commission and whether the minister and department had acted lawfully in leaving the legal strategy to the garda commissioner. He questioned whether there was an appropriate basis for asking the tribunal to investigate the current term of reference, or whether it was entirely based on leaks and conjecture.

McCabe was due to give evidence at the beginning of the next module, when he would be questioned about the effect of the hearings on him.