THE CHILDREN'S MINISTER Katherine Zappone has sensationally contradicted the Taoiseach's account of his knowledge of a Tusla file on the Garda whistleblower, Sergeant Maurice McCabe.
The file was created on McCabe following an erroneous complaint, which was actually made against someone else entirely, in 2014.
Katherine Zappone was the first minister to become aware of this, when she was contacted by the McCabes in late January seeking a meeting about it.
On Friday a spokesman for the Taoiseach insisted that Thursday evening's media reports were the first he had become aware of any involvement by Tusla in any smear campaign.
The Taoiseach again affirmed this in an interview with RTE's This Week programme on Sunday afternoon - when he said he did not know of any Tusla angle to the affair at the time of Tuesday's Cabinet meeting.
However speaking to reporters at Leinster House this evening, Katherine Zappone gave an account that differed from Kenny's in two major ways.
Firstly, she said that while her officials had informed Kenny's department of her plans to meet with the McCabes, she did not personally discuss the meeting with Kenny in advance of it taking place.
This significantly undermines the Taoiseach's account given yesterday; when he said Zappone had informed him personally, and to which he replied: "Well, if you do have a meeting, make sure that you have a thorough account of it."
Zappone says, in fact, that the first time she personally spoke to Kenny about the meeting was before Tuesday's cabinet meeting - when she revealed "that we had discussed Tusla".
"I didn't go into detail about any of the allegations, but I did indicate to him that that was the nature of the conversation."
This again is a major clash with Kenny's account, given to RTE yesterday: "When we did meet, on Tuesday, I wouldn't have been aware of any of the discussions."
Elsewhere in a statement issued this evening Zappone announced an external review of Tusla's procedures and protocols in handling allegations like those made about McCabe.
She has asked HIQA, the Health Information Quality Authority, to undertake an independent Statutory
Investigation into how Tusla manages allegations of child abuse.
She says she will be making the Terms of Reference public as soon as possible.
Speaking to reporters at Leinster House, the Minister defended her handling of the case:
Statement issued by Minister for Children Katherine Zappone
When Sergeant McCabe and Mrs McCabe contacted my office I immediately offered to meet them.
I met with Sergeant Maurice McCabe and Mrs Lorraine McCabe, on the 25th of January last, and heard for the first time of their experience with Tusla, the Child and Family Agency. I was extremely concerned for their individual situation and the serious impact it has had on Sergeant McCabe, his wife and their family.
The Government has agreed to establish a Commission of Investigation to investigate matters relating to two disclosures made by members of the Garda Siochana, under the Protected Disclosures Act 2014. This will of course include the actions of Tusla in this regard. It is likely that this investigation will take some time, given the complexity of the case and the number of agencies involved.
This individual case, and the public response to the mistakes made, has shown again the necessity that agencies invested with responsibility for such important, sensitive and complex work can be trusted to be both competent and fair in their procedures and practices. I am concerned to know, and the public requires reassurance, that the mistakes acknowledged in this case cannot arise again in Tusla’s Child Protection and Welfare Services.
As Minister with responsibility for Tusla, I have asked HIQA, the Health Information Quality Authority, to undertake an independent Statutory Investigation, under Section 9 of the Health Act 2007, into how Tusla manages allegations of child abuse.
In conjunction with the CEO of HIQA, Mr Phelim Quinn, the terms of reference for the Statutory Investigation will be drawn up as a priority to ensure a focussed and timely Investigation. I intend to seek advice from the Attorney General, to ensure that its work does not interfere with the work of the Commission of Inquiry.
I will be making the Terms of Reference public as soon as possible and I will be seeking to have the investigation concluded as quickly as possible.
