Long must 'directly apologise to police rank and file' over £119m compensation fund gaffe: Justice Minister's claim all officers are covered by her saying sorry to Chief Constable doesn't cut it, states provincewide body
The Justice Minister must directly apologise to the PSNI’s rank and file over her £119m compensation fund gaffe, a policing body has said, as it rubbished her claim that saying sorry to the Chief Constable means she’s already covered all 9,700 people affected.
On Wednesday morning, Naomi Long went on BBC Radio Ulster’s Stephen Nolan show announcing the Executive had agreed to ring-fence £119m in compensation for a data breach that put the name, rank and role of every police officer and civilian member of staff in the hands of dissident republicans.
Ending a long-running legal dispute, settlement offers would be made next year, she said – but it turned out the fund doesn’t yet exist, and the Executive isn’t going to vote on whether or not to set it up until next week.
This morning she was back on the radio, saying she “misspoke” and admitting the cash pot is not yet “done and dusted”. She also said she’d yesterday told Chief Constable Jon Boutcher she “just got carried away as we had so much good news” around a 4.2% pay rise for the PSNI and a funding boost covering the first part of a drive to boost the force’s numbers.
But she didn’t issue an explicit public apology to officers. Facing calls to do so, the minister told the News Letter she’d already said sorry to the Chief Constable, and everyone else in the force is covered by that.
Her reasoning has been rejected by the Police Federation of Northern Ireland (PFNI), a body representing the force’s rank and file, which says officers deserve a direct apology for the uproar Mrs Long caused around a sensitive and difficult subject.
The body’s words follow both Police Federation chair Liam Kelly and UUP MLA Doug Beattie calling for a serious and meaningful apology.
Asked if one would be forthcoming, the minister stated she’d gone on radio again this morning as a “follow-up interview” during which she “clarified” that she’d “incorrectly stated the Executive had agreed to fund the cost of the data breach compensation”.
She added: “I also explained the error to the Chief Constable and apologised to him. This extends to all the officers and staff who have been affected by the data breach.
“I will continue to work with my Executive colleagues to ensure this matter is resolved as quickly as possible.”
A PFNI spokesman said her statements to date “fall short” of that apology, telling the News Letter: “It’s a pity the minister has not found it possible to say directly and plainly that she is sorry for the confusion she caused by her inaccurate claims on the data breach compensation issue.”
And Liam Kelly was adamant that a full apology is needed to rebuild morale in a force “left speechless and massively disappointed” by the last couple of days.
“Her mistake has angered officers,” said the PFNI chair, adding that on the radio this morning the Justice Minster had “tried in vain to laugh off” what had happened.
“I’m still of the view that she needs to deliver an unequivocal apology, which I would welcome,” he said.
Meanwhile Mr Beattie said the second interview felt like “a cynical attempt to hide” the severity of the incident.
“Mistakes happen, and all it takes is for those mistakes to be put right and an apology offered for making a mistake,” he said. “That was not what I heard from the Justice Minister.
Mr Beattie accused Mrs Long of “running ahead of herself” – something, he said, that can happen to anyone, but in this case is “a mistake that has real life consequences for police officers, staff, and their families”.