Angela Kerins v Deputy John Mcguinness and Others
| Jurisdiction | Ireland |
| Judge | Ms. Justice Kennedy |
| Judgment Date | 08 May 2015 |
| Neutral Citation | [2015] IEHC 293 |
| Court | High Court |
| Date | 08 May 2015 |
[2015] IEHC 293
THE HIGH COURT
BETWEEN
AND
Tort – Personal injury – Damages – Order of certiorari – Infringement of reputation – Bias – Misfeasance – Breach of constitutional rights – Discovery – Jurisdiction of the PAC.
Facts: The applicant sought an order directing the respondent to remove the references to the applicant and her employment from the records of the Public Accounts Committee. The applicant further sought damages for breach of her constitutional rights and/or for personal injury and/or damage to reputation arising from the examination by the PAC and/or loss and damage as a result of the loss of employment. The applicant now sought discovery of some categories of document to advance the case. The applicant contended that the respondents, as members of the Public Accounts Committee, had no jurisdiction to carry out the impugned examination.
Ms. Justice Kennedy held that the application for an order directing discovery of some categories of documents to advance the case would be granted in part. The Court observed that the material relevant and necessary to the issue of the jurisdiction of the PAC should be discovered. The found that the documents sought would be relevant and necessary and would lead to a fair disposal of the matter.
JUDGMENT of Ms. Justice Kennedy delivered 8th day of May, 2015
1. The applicant moves by way of notice of motion dated 24 th February, 2015 seeking discovery of various stated categories of document; there being eight in total. The respondents oppose the application.
2. The applicant is the former chief executive officer of the Rehab Group, having been appointed to that position in December, 2006.
3. The respondents, for the puipose of this discovery application are the named thirteen Teachtaí Dála, the Clerk of Dáil Éireann and the Clerk of the Public Accounts Committee. The respondents sat as the public accounts committee of Dáil Éireann, hereinafter referred to as 'the PAC' and conducted inquiries, the subject matter of the within proceedings on 27 th February, 2014 and on 10 th April, 2014.
4. These proceedings were commenced by leave of Hedigan J. on 24 th July, 2014. The applicant seeks, inter alia, Orders of prohibition and/or injunctive relief, an Order directing the respondents to remove from the record of the PAC any and all references to the applicant and her employment with the Rehab Group by Order of certiorari or otherwise. Certain other declaratory Orders are sought to the effect that the respondents had no jurisdiction to examine the applicant on expenditure of monies by the Rehab Group and in particular expenditure in connection with or concerning the applicant, that the procedures of the respondents in respect of the applicant on the occasion of her attendance before the PAC and subsequently, were unfair, unlawful, null and void and tainted by bias of individual members of the Committee. The applicant also seeks damages for breach of her constitutional rights and/or for personal injury and/or damage to reputation arising from the examination by the PAC and/or loss and damage by reason of the ending of her employment with the Rehab Group. Full statements in opposition to the applicant's claim have been delivered.
5. On 9 th December, 2014, the applicant wrote seeking voluntary discovery of the categories of documents therein described and the respondent refused by letter dated 22 nd January, 2015. By letter dated 18 th February, 2014, the applicant was invited to attend at the public accounts committee. The applicant subsequently attended on 27 th February, 2014, as requested and participated in the hearing. The applicant contends that on 27 th February, 2014 she was subjected to an examination of such intensity that it caused her to be publicly degraded and her health to be adversely affected, resulting in her hospitalisation. It is pleaded that she was subjected to questioning over a period of seven hours on a number of issues that were not the subject of the hearing as notified to her in the aforementioned letter, that questioning was pursued, inter alia, in a hostile manner. A transcript of this hearing is available.
6. This court was informed that the public accounts committee subsequently issued a second invitation to her to return for a committee hearing set for 10 th April, 2014, and on 9 th April, 2014, the public accounts committee was advised that she was unable to attend due to illness.
7. On 10 th April, 2014, the public accounts committee convened to continue its hearing. There is a transcript of this hearing also. The Public Accounts Committee made an application to the committee on procedure and privileges of Dáil Éireann for certification pursuant to Part 7 of the Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries) Privileges and Procedures Act, 2013 seeking to compel the applicant's attendance.
8. This request was subsequently refused in July, 2014 by the Committee on Privileges and Procedures.
9. The application before me seeks eight categories of document. I will consider each in turn.
i i. All documents relating to the identification by the Public Accounts Committee of the terms of reference or the precise subject of examination before the public accounts committee on the date when a decision was made to commence the examination of payments made to the Rehab Group which subsequently required the attendance of the applicant before the public accounts committee;
ii ii. All documents relating to (including but not limited to minutes and/or recordings of meetings of the Public Accounts Committee and/or between individual members whether in private or public session) and/or considered by the Public Accounts Committee when it made the decision(s) to commence the examination into payments by the Rehab Group pursuant to which the applicant was requested to attend before the Public Accounts Committee;
iii iii. All documentation recording the legal advice sought by the Public Accounts Committee and/or provided to and/or available to the Public Accounts Committee:-
a a.) at the time they commenced their examination of the affairs of the Rehab Group;
b b.) at the time they decided to seek the applicant's attendance before the Public Accounts Committee;
c c.) at the time they decided to request the applicant to return before the Public Accounts Committee in April, 2014;
d d.) at the time they made application for powers of compellability to the Committee on Procedures and Privileges in relation to the applicant; and
e e.) at any time during the period from 1 st December, 2013 to 21 st July, 2014 wherein such advice sought and/or provided to and/or made available to, the Public Accounts Committee related to the applicant and/or the Rehab Group and/or the examination commenced by the Public Accounts Committee into payments by the Rehab Group;
iv iv. All documents (including but not limited to minutes and/or recordings of meetings of the Public Accounts Committee and/or between individual members whether in private or public session) relating to the decision of the Public Accounts Committee to make an application to the Committee on Procedure and Privileges of Dáil Éireann for an order under part 7 of the Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Act, 2013 to compel the applicant to attend before it;
v v. All minutes or records (including audio or visual records) of any meetings of the Public Accounts Committee that took place since 1 st December, 2013 (including private meetings) at which the public accounts committee discussed or referred:
a) the Rehab Group;
b) the applicant;
c) whether payments to the applicant or other members of staff employed by Rehab could be or should be subject of examination; and
d) whether the Public Accounts Committee could or should seek the attendance of the applicant as a witness before the Public Accounts Committee.
vi vi. All documentation arising from communications between the Public Accounts Committee and the Health Services Executive and/or the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform and/or the Comptroller and Auditor General with regard to the examination being conducted by the public accounts committee concerning payments to and by the Rehab Group;
vii vii. All documents relating to:
a) Communications and/or correspondence between the members of the Public Accounts Committee;
b) Communications and/or correspondence between the Public Accounts Committee (and/or its individual members) and any other body or individual;
which relate to the examination commenced by the Public Accounts Committee into the Rehab Group and the applicants private affairs; and
viii viii. All documentation in relation to the application submitted to the Committee on Procedures and Privileges of Dáil Éireann for an order compelling the attendance of the applicant before the Committee.
10. I propose to set out broadly the applicant's grounds and submissions.
The applicant maintains that discovery is required to advance her case and/or detract from the respondent's opposition to her application; such a test impliedly incorporates the hurdles of...
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White v Bar Council of Ireland
...needs to establish ‘ that the discovery sought is relevant and necessary’. A similar intimation appears in Kerins v. McGuinness [2015] IEHC 293 where discovery was ordered of certain documents as they were (see para.33) necessary and relevant to an issue to be decided. This Court respectful......
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