Tribunal finds senior garda officers did not target William Hughes

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

The Disclosures Tribunal found senior garda officers did not target or discredit retired Sergeant William Hughes over his protected disclosures, reported on 20 April 2023.

In its sixth and final report, Mr Justice Sean Ryan found Hughes’s concerns were genuine, but no sufficient or realistic basis connected the conduct he complained of to any protected disclosure.

The tribunal also found that directing a fact-finding report about Baiba Saulite’s victim impact statement was reasonable and justified, and that the disciplinary investigation which exonerated Hughes was justified.

It found no targeting in the handling of Hughes’s sick leave and rejected his criticism of the Garda investigation into his complaints. The tribunal recommended improvements to internal investigations and the handling of work-related stress.