Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Here is the difficulty. This independent body was sent for by the Minister. In his first public utterance, the Taoiseach stated that it should have reported the information to the Minister and that it was compelled to do so. There is no provision in the law which insists that GSOC must report to the Minister. Whether that is the right thing is an entirely different matter. The fact is there is an independence which is being undermined.

I do not wish to compare like with like, but I was one of those who helped to negotiate a new policing dispensation in the North. The majority of people in the Six Counties support the PSNI, but it contains an independent police authority, an ombudsman who has an ability to look at all aspects of the policing operation and so on. That is what the Garda Síochána needs, and it would be good for the policing service if that was the case. If we look at this bugging controversy, the penalty points scandal, the whistleblowers' debacle, and even the recent Garda role in the case involving Roma children, what did the Minister do? He referred the last case to the Ombudsman for Children. These cases were the very reason GSOC was established, but on each occasion the Minister sidelined the ombudsman and went somewhere else. Unlike the North, GSOC does not have unfettered access to Garda computer systems. In particular, it has no oversight over the Garda Commissioner.

I am disappointed the Taoiseach did not correct the record on the Garda Síochána Act 2005, but yesterday he said that GSOC concluded there was no definitive evidence of unauthorised surveillance. That begs another question on whether there are technical or electronic-----

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