Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move:

That Dáil Éireann:notes

— that the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission is an independent statutory body established under the Garda Síochána Act 2005 to provide an independent and effective civilian oversight of policing in this State;

— that the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission has a hugely important role in ensuring that public confidence in the Garda Síochána is maintained;

— the reports that the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission’s offices may have been subjected to covert surveillance; and

— that the obfuscation by the Government, thus far, to these reports has only served to obscure the situation and undermine confidence in both State agencies, including statements made by members of the Government into the Dáil record which have now been flatly contradicted by the Ombudsman;

recognises that:

— significant public concern now exists in relation to this matter and that there is an urgent need to ensure that public trust and confidence in the Garda Síochána and the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission is maintained; and

— there is now a compelling case to establish an independent inquiry into this matter without delay, to be undertaken by a suitable person(s) with the appropriate experience, qualifications, training and expertise; and

calls on the Government to establish an independent inquiry into the matter without delay and consider options including a Commission of Investigation, as provided for under existing legislation through the Commissions of Investigation Act 2004.

For the past ten days it has been clear that the institutions of the State have been severely undermined by two factors: first, the profoundly serious suspicions of bugging and intelligence gathering at the independent office of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, GSOC - a statutory body established to provide independent and effective civilian oversight of policing in the State - and second, the response of the Minister, the Government and the Garda Commissioner to the mishandling of this affair over the past ten days.

The situation has limped from chaos to crisis to chaos and back to crisis. It started on Sunday, 9 February, when The Sunday Times reported that a security sweep of GSOC's offices, which was conducted on the evenings of 23 to 27 September last year, found that GSOC had been targeted as part of a sophisticated surveillance operation which used "government level technology" to hack into e-mails and WiFi and phone systems. On the following day, 10 February, what I can only describe as the knee-jerk reaction or instinct of the Minister was not to run to the aid of GSOC, but to summon the commission to his office for an explanation as to why it had failed to inform him- as per the law in his view - why it had taken such action. The tone and manner of this response caused grave concern and has compounded the situation rather than help resolve it. All this time the public has been watching from the sidelines. Despite everything the Government promised in the lead-up to and since the general election regarding transparency and accountability, these were not forthcoming in the response to this issue on Monday, 10 February.

On Tuesday, 11 February, the Taoiseach, responding to growing public concerns, as articulated during Leaders' Questions in this Chamber from Opposition leaders, misrepresented the legislation. Again, he failed to grasp the gravity of the emerging crisis and went on to defend the Minister rather than acknowledge what had been reported over the previous two days. On 11 February, the Minister made a statement to the Dáil in which he provided an account based on the briefing he had received from GSOC. However, it has now emerged - a fact not disputed by anybody other than the Minister - that he was less than forthcoming with the information he had at his disposal.

On 12 February, the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions invited GSOC to come before it to examine the matter. During the course of that meeting, the chairman of GSOC, Simon O'Brien, flatly contradicted what the Minister had said and put on the record in this Chamber the previous day. The written briefing the Minister received from GSOC has since come into the public domain and we now know what the Minister was told.

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