Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions
Dail Éireann — 2026-03-05
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Ken O'Flynn (II), Cork North-Central

Mr. John Barrett, an established civil servant at assistant secretary general grade and an executive director of An Garda Síochána, was purportedly abruptly dismissed on 18 September 2024. The Government has been formally notified of the legal contention that the dismissal as unlawful on five separate occasions, namely, on 5 July 2024, 18 November 2024, 20 January 2025, 28 July 2025 and, again, earlier this week. The central legal issue is rather straightforward. Section 5(1) of the Civil Service Regulation Act 1956 provides that the dismissal of an established civil servant requires the will and the pleasure of Government.
Yet, Mr. Barrett received a letter signed off by an official of a lower grade, purporting to convey a ministerial direction. I ask the Tánaiste directly if his Government took a decision to authorise the dismissal of Mr. John Barrett. Was a memorandum brought to the Cabinet? If so, on what date did the Government exercise the statutory authorisation? If not, how was the dismissal lawfully effected in compliance with section 51? Beyond the statutory questions I have put to the Tánaiste, he has also been put on notice on five separate occasions of the fact of serious allegations regarding the process leading to the purported dismissal, including that the dismissal compliance was attributed to a senior garda whose office has now officially denied making it, and that Mr. Barrett was not furnished-----

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-03-05/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:44+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-03-05