Social worker tells tribunal of "human error" in McCabe abuse allegation report

A social worker has told the Charleton tribunal that administrative error led her to fail to identify that two distinct alleged abuse victims were listed within a single report file. The tribunal is examining claims that allegations of sexual abuse were deployed to undermine garda sergeant Maurice McCabe, a whistleblower. Laura Connolly, a duty social worker in Cavan town, gave evidence that separate incidents were combined into one document during 2014. She acknowledged that while reviewing materials, she did not notice that different surnames appeared in the report, attributing this to oversight and human error. Ms Connolly said she would have relied upon written professional records rather than telephone conversation notes. The Director of Public Prosecutions declined to prosecute in the matter in 2007 due to insufficient evidence. The tribunal heard that Ms Connolly only became aware of her involvement when contacted by a tribunal investigator, and that media coverage of Sergeant McCabe's whistleblowing role held no particular significance for her. Proceedings continued.