Terry McGinn denies deliberately omitting decision from tribunal statement

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

Chief Superintendent Terry McGinn said she had not deliberately omitted a reference to her decision to appoint an inspector from her statement to the Disclosures Tribunal.

The proceedings were reported on 9 October 2017.

Garda Keith Harrison’s lawyer, Mark Harty SC, asked McGinn why there was no written record of her decision to appoint an inspector to review Garda Harrison and domestic violence allegations in late September or October 2013. He also asked why her tribunal statement did not refer to the decision.

McGinn said she did not write down every decision and that her statement had outlined events and offered context. Harty said her evidence on the matter should not be accepted by the tribunal.

McGinn also said a Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission referral concerning Garda Harrison was made in good faith. The commission rejected the complaint because it did not meet its criteria. McGinn said she may have used the wrong section of the Garda Síochána Act but wanted the matter independently investigated.

Harty disputed that the referral was made in good faith, saying that, if it had been, it would have been recorded in her officer’s journal.