Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Since last Sunday, the Government has engaged in a co-ordinated strategy that has served to undermine the Office of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission. On Monday, the Taoiseach took to the media and demanded that the GSOC level with the Minister for Justice and Equality. He further chose to repeatedly misquote section 80 of the Garda Síochána Act 2005 and misinform members of the public in respect of the Act. All of this had the effect of placing significant public pressure on the GSOC, which was then publicly forced into a position in which it had to express regret to the Minister and publicly on national television. This was very damaging to the independent office of the GSOC. One would not expect the same to be asked of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, any other Ombudsman or a judge who has been independently appointed by the President.

On Tuesday evening, we had statements in the House on the issue and the Joint Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions met yesterday for a further discussion of the matter. Speaking on Tuesday evening, the Minister for Justice and Equality stated that "no definitive evidence of unauthorised technical or electronic surveillance was found". It was, he said, "unfortunate that An Garda Síochána has found itself, during the last 48 hours, the subject of what appears to be completely baseless innuendo". The Minister also stated that "no information has been furnished to me by the GSOC suggesting that An Garda Síochána was involved in any way in what gave rise to the concerns which arose in the GSOC about its security". In his opening statement to yesterday's meeting of the Joint Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions, the chairman of the GSOC, Mr. Simon O'Brien, stated that on 8 October 2013 the commission invoked section 102(4) of the Garda Síochána Act 2005 and commenced a public interest investigation. The investigation was launched on the basis that the acting director of investigations was of the opinion that the threshold of a threat had been met and the commission commenced an investigation into the Garda Síochána. When I pointedly asked the Mr. O'Brien yesterday if he had informed the Minister of this fact when he briefed him he stated that he had done so. The Minister did not make Deputies aware of this matter in his statement to the Dáil on Tuesday. There is, therefore, a significant divergence of opinion in this regard.

Does the Tánaiste believe the Taoiseach was correct in demanding publicly that the GSOC level with the Minister? Was the commission right to apologise to the Minister? Has the independence of the GSOC been damaged as a consequence of this apology? Did the Minister for Justice and Equality withhold from the Dáil on Tuesday information he had received from Mr. Simon O'Brien? Why is the Government not running with the calls made by the Fianna Fáil Party and other Opposition parties for an independent inquiry into this matter?

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