‘Non-existent’emails between Fitzgerald and Prone turn up
Felt it couldn’t ask for private emails
DOZENS of emails between former Tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald and Terry Prone’s PR firm – which the Department of Justice repeatedly said it could find no trace of – have been discovered
It has also emerged that the department never asked the former justice minister to examine her personal email account for any such correspondence on the basis that it did not feel it was in a position to make such a request.
The embarrassing appearance of the records emerged yesterday after journalist and lecturer Ken Foxe, of the Right to Know group, revealed that he had made a Freedom of Information request to the Department of Justice in March 2017 seeking details of any correspondence between the then justice minister or her private office and Ms Prone or her Communications Clinic PR firm. Right to Know is a non-profit group which promotes public access to information. Mr Foxe made the request shortly after it emerged that An Garda Síochána had paid the Communications Clinic more than €90,000 for media training in 2014.
After initially being told that no such records existed, Mr Foxe was refused an internal review of the decision before he then appealed to the Information Commissioner, Peter Tyndall.
Mr Tyndall’s decision, released this week, reveals that it asked the department to make a submission to it in July 2017. A month later, the department responded and said it had searched Ms Fitzgerald’s office email and that of her diary secretary. It said it was not aware of any records and that it had no control over anyone’s personal email accounts. Mr Tyndall’s report said his office was not happy with this response.
‘Consequently, my office wrote to the department and invited it to clarify its position on searches it had conducted to satisfy itself that further records are not held or cannot be found.’
In particular, the department was asked if it had considered the possibility that messages/ emails concerning official business of the department may be held on ‘private’ accounts of individuals, including the former minister, and whether any such official ‘communications were forwarded to officials in the department,’ he wrote. The department eventually found 74 records of correspondence, 68 of which fell within the time period Mr Foxe had inquired of.
‘While the department originally stated that it was not aware of any interaction between the former minister and [Ms Prone’s] company, it subsequently came to light that its archive records did contain a substantial number of relevant records.’
However, he added that the department still had not checked if any records of correspondence with the PR firm existed on Ms Fitzgerald’s private email.
Mr Tyndall said: ‘The department stated that it would not be appropriate to ask the former minister whether she has records in her personal email accounts “that might fall within the scope of the request” [my emphasis], and that the department “does not feel it is in a position to go outside of the scope of the FoI Act and seek such information.’
In his ruling, Mr Tyndall said he believes it is ‘reasonable and necessary’ for the department to ask Ms Fitzgerald if she holds any records on personal [email] that would be relevant to Mr Foxe’s Freedom of Information request’. Mr Tyndall found in favour of Mr Foxe. But this does not mean that the reporter has been given access to the correspondence between Ms Fitzgerald and the Communications Clinic. Instead, Mr Tyndall has ordered the department to undertake a fresh decision-making process on whether Mr Foxe should get access to the records he requested. He has also directed that the department ask Ms Fitzgerald if she holds any records of correspondence with the PR firm that would be relevant.
Ms Fitzgerald, who resigned amid high political drama last December, was uncontactable last night.
She quit as justice minister after previously undisclosed emails emerged about the level of official knowledge about a planned antagonistic Garda legal approach to whistleblower Sergeant Maurice McCabe.
The department yesterday said it had ‘co-operated fully and promptly with the Office of the Information Commissioner’.
Last year, a number of TDs, complained that parliamentary questions and even FoI requests were being frustrated by the Department of Justice.