An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business
Dail Éireann — 2026-02-10
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Ruth Coppinger (PBP), Dublin West

There were 60 complaints of sexual abuse or misconduct against members of An Garda Síochána in the past three years. There are 18 active investigations. We saw what happened with Margaret Loftus. I raised with the Taoiseach the case of a Scott medal being awarded to former detective Noel McMahon, who was named at the Morris tribunal in connection with all sorts of corruption, who assaulted his wife, Sheenagh, with a firearm and who got her children taken from her by lying and using his position. The Taoiseach said that I had a point, that the man in question should not have got the medal and that he would have had issues with it as well. In a letter I have seen since, however, the Garda Commissioner said in reply to Senator Paul Daly that matters such as those to which I refer cannot be taken into account in the award of the medal and nor can general misconduct where a member's courage and heroism are such that they clearly entitle him or her to the award. In other words, it does not matter what bad deeds people do, how much gender violence they commit, they can still get a medal for bravery.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-02-10/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:36+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-10