Tribunal finds Tusla errors gave false rape allegation against McCabe an afterlife

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

The Disclosures Tribunal found the false rape allegation against Sergeant Maurice McCabe was created through a transcription error at an HSE counselling service and was not the result of a conspiracy. The allegation began with a 2006 complaint that the Director of Public Prosecutions found disclosed no offence; in 2013, the error turned it into a rape allegation on McCabe’s file.

Tribunal chairman Mr Justice Peter Charleton strongly criticised Tusla’s handling of the file, finding that agency errors and management inertia allowed the allegation to persist. He said that if senior management had admitted the mistakes, the tribunal inquiry would most probably have been avoided. The report also found that an unidentified person removed documents from the file, and that McCabe was never told the mistakes had been made.

Tusla apologised to McCabe and his family, acknowledged that its safeguarding practice and governance had fallen below its standards, and said it had begun a human resources process concerning management of the case.