I thank Deputy Ward for sharing time. I want to talk about the offences under the Domestic Violence Act in this Bill. This is my first chance to talk about a profoundly courageous woman I have the privilege of knowing. Margaret Loftus is a former member of an Garda Síochána who was married to another garda, Trevor Bolger. Trevor Bolger was violent, abusive and isolated Margaret from her family in Mayo. Events came to a head when Trevor Bolger viscously attacked Margaret and threatened to kill her after a family event. Margaret left Trevor Bolger, got a barring order and requested a transfer to Mayo to return to her supportive and caring family, who I also have the privilege of knowing. Margaret went through a horrendous ordeal in the family law courts and had a committal warrant served to send her to prison based on Trevor Bolger's assertions. Margaret was initially granted the transfer but shortly after, the behaviour of some gardaí became increasingly sinister. They began to interfere with her and her life. It was very clear that an Garda Síochána, or some members of Garda Síochána, were siding with Margaret's ex-husband, barring order or no barring order. Her transfer was revoked so to remain with her family in Mayo, Margaret was advised to go on sick leave. While on sick leave, her pay was stopped on multiple occasions for spurious reasons. A disciplinary fine was attached to her file and taken from her wages, unknowingly to her, and was returned after she questioned it and followed it up, asking numerous times what it referred to. Margaret requested the gardaí investigate her husband, his violence and his ongoing threats to kill her. Margaret could see on the Garda PULSE system that Trevor Bolger had checked her more than 20 times. Every time an incident occurred, he could see if she reported it or not. Margaret prepared her own investigation file and sent her statement directly to the office of the Garda Commissioner. While the investigation was under way - that is, while Trevor Bolger was under investigation for domestic violence and a threat to kill - he was promoted to detective, with glowing references from his sergeant and superintendent. He was given a gun. Meanwhile, Trevor Bolger repeatedly looked Margaret up on the PULSE system and sent gardaí to her home in Mayo to carry out welfare checks on her children. Justin Kelly, who is now the Commissioner, was the first person to take her seriously. This gives me some hope. Margaret was emphatic in her statement that her journey through the family law courts was torturous. I believe her.

Sentiment score: -0.20

The fact that vital evidence that was given in the family law courts but was not allowed to be transferred over to be used in the criminal court is, I believe, a miscarriage of justice in its own right. A proper investigation was at last conducted and a file was sent to the DPP. The criminal Circuit Court granted Trevor Bolger full State legal aid throughout the whole court process. There was no means test or evaluation of assets carried out. He was suspended from an Garda Síochána with full pay. The criminal Circuit Court also accepted an application from Trevor Bolger to get a media gagging order on the court proceedings with full consent from the State. Margaret did not consent to this order and there was no legal basis for this order being made. Eventually, the legal firm for the media got this application lifted so it could be reported on. Margaret was questioned twice by an Garda Síochána on articles that appeared in the media. Conor Lally, a journalist with The Irish Times, was also questioned. Margaret made contact with at least eight politicians over the years seeking help. Three of those were Ministers for justice at the time she made contact. One of those sent back an email to say he could not be of any assistance but was deeply troubled by what she had told him. Still, nothing was done. The DPP took a plea deal. Before this plea deal, there was a disposition heard in court. Margaret was not happy with the way the State presented the case, so did some investigating herself. She realised the senior counsel assigned to the case by the State knew Trevor Bolger well and had worked with him on high profile drug cases previously. As Margaret queried this, the senior counsel removed herself from the case with no explanation given. Margaret's victim impact statement was censored by the defence and Trevor Bolger. She had to take out parts of it he was not happy with when the report was read out. Details of this case were reported by the media in 2019 and 2020. Trevor Bolger pleaded guilty to a section 2 assault in the Circuit Court and was sentenced in January. The case was before the Circuit Court 55 times before this plea was entered. During these 55 times, Trevor Bolger was granted disclosure order after disclosure order to gain access to every inch of Margaret's life. He was facilitated to drag her through the courts a total of 58 times in all. Miriam O'Callaghan filmed an interview for "Prime Time" that was aired on Tuesday. Margaret has now left an Garda Síochána. Fiosrú is conducting a root and branch investigation into the case, attitudes to domestic violence and treatment of women on the force while Trevor was given a gun. There are so many wider implications to this case that I am asking the Minister to meet with Margaret Loftus to address the critical issues she has raised and ensure that no other woman who is a victim of abuse from a member of an Garda Síochána is forced to go through this torturous journey.

Sentiment score: -0.14