The Director of Public Prosecutions has directed that the garda arrested over the leaking of a letter that led to the resignation of former junior minister Trevor Sargent will not be prosecuted.
The female officer, who is in her 30s, was questioned about how a letter from the Green Party TD to the Superintendent in Balbriggan about a prosecution against one of his constituents ended up in the media.
She had been suspected of a breach of the Garda Síochána Act 2005, which makes disclosure of such documentation an offence.
The DPP does not give reasons for deciding not to prosecute but his decision marks the end of the inquiry set up by the Garda Commissioner after the Minister for Justice was accused of being the source of the leak.
Dermot Ahern demanded an apology from the Opposition but says he has never received one.
The garda is still subject to internal disciplinary proceedings, which will determine whether or not she was in breach of Garda regulations.
Mr Sargent resigned as Minister of State in the Department of Agriculture last February after accepting that he made 'an error of judgement' in contacting gardaí about a case involving a constituent.
