Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The serious issue here is the possibility that an independent body, whose job it is to investigate complaints or allegations of misconduct against the Garda Síochána, might have been under surveillance and that confidentiality in respect of information of which it is seized has been breached.

I think that is the serious issue here. The GSOC brought in experts to do the sweep of its offices. It did a follow-up investigation following on from that. The chairperson of the commission has brought that information before the Oireachtas committee and the Oireachtas committee is going to have further investigations and will ask the Minister for Justice and Equality about issues arising from that. I believe that is the right course of action to take because the critical issue is that the independence of the commission is maintained and upheld and that there is public confidence in the Garda. I appreciate that members of the Opposition parties want to politicise that in some way and find a way in which-----

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