Garda whistleblower claims financial penalisation after voicing concerns about equipment

Irish Times

a day ago

A senior Garda officer claims he has been financially penalised, with his pay cut by half while he has been on sick leave, because he made protected disclosures outlining concerns about Garda practices and equipment.
Detective superintendent Brian O'Reilly has taken his case against An Garda Síochána (AGS) to Dublin Circuit Civil Court in a bid to have his full remuneration reinstated. He claims Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has breached protections for whistleblowers enshrined in legislation by penalising him after he had made protected disclosures.
Det Supt O'Reilly claimed in his protected disclosure that leather holsters issued to gardaí for their firearms, made and supplied by an equine saddlery in Kildare, may have been responsible for the serious accidental self-wounding of a garda on protection duty. The injured garda was on duty at the residence of the Israeli ambassador in Dublin on June 11th, 2020.
That incident was followed six days later by the murder of Detective Garda Colm Horkan, who was shot and killed by an individual who disarmed him by taking his gun from his holster. That person was later convicted of Det Garda Horkan's capital murder.
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Rosario Boyle SC, appearing with Conor Duff BL, for Det Supt O'Reilly, on Monday told the court her client had suffered 'dire' consequences at such a large reduction in remuneration. This had resulted in difficulties paying his mortgage, it was claimed. His pay has been reduced to 50 per cent of what it ordinarily would be, as the illness that has forced him out of work is classified by AGS as an 'ordinary' sickness rather than 'injury from duty'.
Ms Boyle said that in January, the gardaí's executive director, people and development, Yvonne Cooke, rejected Det Supt O'Reilly's application for his absence to be classified as 'injury from duty'. She did so on the basis of a report by a detective chief superintendent asked to investigate the cause of the illness-injury. She also considered the views of An Garda Síochána's chief medical officer.
Conor Power SC, for the Garda Commissioner, told Judge John O'Connor there was no proof to suggest Det Supt O'Reilly's absence from work had been categorised in such a way because he made a protected disclosure. He said Det Supt O'Reilly's stance was 'this has been refused to me, therefore it's penalisation because I made a protected disclosure'.
Judge O'Connor has said he will endeavour to deliver a judgment by the end of the month, with the case listed for mention on July 25th.
Det Supt O'Reilly made his protected disclosure about the holsters in June 2021, saying he had 'ongoing significant concerns'. In the second half of 2022, he raised further concerns internally about plans for a 'defective' leather pistol holster to be tested by Garda armourers at the request of Garda Commissioner Drew Harris. Det Supt O'Reilly said he raised these concerns as he believed they were not qualified.
He believed efforts were made to undermine him, including excluding him from decision-making, and to force him out of his position as acting head of the Garda National Technical Bureau.
In late 2022, having placed a circular about 'defective' holsters on the Garda portal, he declined a request from management to withdraw it, he claims.
In April 2023, Det Supt O'Reilly began a period of sick leave which, he says, was brought about because of his work. In July of that year, he was informed he was being placed under investigation for breach of discipline. This related to his claimed actions around the commission of a second report by Garda management on the leather pistol holster.