Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

On the basis of the Minister's evidence, one would conclude that the sweep carried out by the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission was routine. Having listened to the evidence given last week, it is my understanding that the three commissioners took it upon themselves to leave GSOC office and speak in private in coffee houses to avoid any electronic or e-mail contact. When the Minister appointed Mr. Simon O'Brien as chairman of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission we were informed that Mr. O'Brien was the territorial police commander in the Metropolitan Police in the United Kingdom, commanding police across 11 boroughs in north-east London with a staff of more than 9,000 reporting to him. Not only did he have extensive experience of policing at a senior level, but he also had an excellent knowledge of the Garda Síochána and the policing environment in which it operates. In his evidence to the joint committee, Mr. O'Brien stated: "GSOC has been put in the grave position where a secret document has been put in the public domain." He also stated, in reference to the covert nature of surveillance, the following:

If one is the subject of surveillance and one has any knowledge of that surveillance, the surveillance is failing... we have no precision; we have suspicion. We have suspected activity and nothing, in my view and professional judgment, would have got past the threshold test to say we had an offence.

Mr. O'Brien is a policeman of long standing. The three commissioners had serious suspicions that surveillance was being undertaken. In addition, Verrimus has today stood by the evidence in the initial report, which the Minister, unlike members, has seen. The Minister outlined what he was told by the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission. Did the Verrimus report specifically identify the anomalies as threats? We have been informed that there was no innocent explanation for at least one of the anomalies. It is important, therefore, that we examine that matter.