Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)

On behalf of the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, who cannot be here, I am pleased to respond to the matter raised by the Deputy.

The allegations to which the Deputy refers emerged in a newspaper article last weekend. Lest there be any doubt about it, these allegations are being taken most seriously. The Tánaiste regards the situation as a matter of the utmost gravity and contacted the Garda Commissioner. The Garda Commissioner shares the Tánaiste's view that the allegations in the article concerning an abuse of position are of the utmost gravity. They are being treated seriously and are being inquired into fully. The Commissioner has appointed a senior officer at assistant commissioner level to investigate the matter. The Garda Síochána would welcome the receipt of any information that would assist the investigation.

The allegation that serving members are being employed in a private capacity by motor insurance companies to assist in settling claims is something that must be treated with the utmost seriousness. The idea that members of the force could use the official resources at their disposal in the service of a private company for their own personal gain is anathema to the notion of public service. The thrust of the Tánaiste's policy on the Garda Síochána since he assumed office, as exemplified by the historic enactment of the Garda Síochána Act, has been to ensure that public confidence in the concept of an effective and impartial policing system is maintained. For that reason, each and every allegation must be investigated and, where evidence exists, the perpetrators must be subject to the full rigours of the law.

In this instance the law is very clear. An explicit prohibition on the disclosure of information was specifically inserted in the Garda Síochána Act 2005. The section covers both serving and former members of the force. Section 62 of that Act prohibits a person who is or was a member of the Garda Síochána, or its civilian staff, from disclosing information obtained in the course of his or her duties. The section provides stiff penalties, fines up to €50,000 and-or up to five years' imprisonment for conviction on indictment in the ordinary course, increasing to €75,000 and-or seven years' imprisonment where persons who contravene its provisions receive any gift, consideration or advantage as an inducement to disclose any information.

These penalties are severe and will cause any errant minority to think twice before considering releasing sensitive information. The provision, in its original draft form, attracted a considerable degree of public controversy during its passage through the Oireachtas on the grounds that it would be unnecessarily restrictive. However, the purpose of the legislation was to deal with a real concern that confidential and personal information about individual investigations was emerging in circumstances which were neither legitimate nor ethical. The penalties in section 62 of the Act strike the right balance. The great majority of members of the Garda Síochána would be appalled at the thought that colleagues might conduct themselves in this way and would instinctively support the fundamental policy aspect of the provision.

In addition to section 62 of the Garda Síochána Act, serving and former gardaí are also governed by the provisions of the Official Secrets Act and the Data Protection Acts. At an operational level, the Garda authorities take all the necessary precautions to ensure that information contained on their computer systems is secure. As a practical measure, members' log-on accounts for the Garda Information System, PULSE-GNIB-FCPS are disabled upon their retirement to ensure that they cannot access any of the Garda IT systems. The Garda Commissioner takes his responsibilities in this area very seriously and every allegation of misuse and abuse of information will be investigated vigorously.

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