Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This was brought into the public domain last week, was raised again today and I am raising it now.

It is necessary for us to get a response in respect of the comments made by the confidential recipient to the whistleblower. It is simply not good enough. What we have seen in the Minister's statement is a play on words in respect of what the GSOC statement said in respect of whether there was an alleged bugging offence. The Taoiseach quoted the GSOC report and said that no sophisticated evidence of technical surveillance was found. That was what he said this afternoon during Leaders' Questions but that is not what the GSOC statement said. Yet he purported to quote from that report.

Why does the Minister not properly empower the GSOC to carry out its role and remit? What has he against setting up an independent panel of suitably qualified people to carry out a review into this? The question is being asked about whether the GSOC did not go to the Minister with the information in the first place. The reason it did not go to the Minister is because it could not trust him and because it has been looking for increased powers to carry out its remit. It did not go to the Minister and it could not go to the gardaí because it has oversight of An Garda Síochána. It would be proper to have an independent panel that includes a judge, an expert in surveillance technology and possibly some suitably qualified person from outside the jurisdiction to look into this and to make all the documentation available. It has been pointed out here that the report commissioned by the GSOC is its property and does not have to be made publicly available. This is a matter of fundamental importance.

The Oireachtas set up the Office of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission through the Garda Síochána Act 2005. Unfortunately, the GSOC has told us that its ability to do its work is being compromised. It cannot ask the Minister for increased powers because it seems to be falling on deaf ears. We need to get all of the information out into the public domain as soon as we can. In his response to us, will the Minister undertake to address our party's call to establish an independent committee, which has been made by other parties? Will he outline to us what are his intentions regarding the modernisation and updating of the 2005 Act in terms of additional powers for the GSOC? Can he tell us what is the situation regarding the confidential recipient of information from whistleblowers? Given the content of the transcript of his conversation with the whistleblower, is he a fit person to hold that office? Has the Minister concerns about this because we have not heard from him? Can the Minister make any of the reports he has internally available to us to inform the public and have public discourse on it?

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