Former Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald has told the Dáil that she has spoken directly to Garda Sergeant Maurice McCabe and hoped that the publication of the Report of the Disclosures Tribunal marked a turning point for him and his family.
The report, conducted by Mr Justice Peter Charleton and published earlier this month, found that Sgt McCabe was subjected to a smear campaign by former garda commissioner Martin Callinan and then head of the Garda Press Office, Superintendent David Taylor.
Deputy Fitzgerald said Sgt McCabe had told her that he had no criticism of how she had dealt with the issues and his approach in November and at the Tribunal "contrasted greatly" with what she experienced in the Dáil and the responses from some political parties.
In her first address to the house on the matter, Mrs Fitzgerald said that while she "can live her life quite contentedly without an apology" from the deputies concerned, but that no one should stand for an attempt to re-write facts.
She said some deputies were willing to pay more attention to what was described in the report as snippets of information.
She said she warned in the Dáil at the time that there was a danger of trying to remedy one injustice by creating others.
"I believe that is something we all need to reflect on in considering the report," she said.
Mrs Fitzgerald said she hoped that deputies would also accept the finding that the allegations in relation to former garda commissioner Nóirín O'Sullivan were not upheld.
She said she was pleased on a personal that the report found that she had acted appropriately, and her department acted properly.
But she criticised comments made in the house at the time.
"What is deeply worrying is politicians using the shelter of parliament to defame public servants," she said.
She said it was tempting to jump to conclusions in complex situations, but in politics and the media this should be tempered by respect for facts and due process.
