Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

When Fine Gael and Labour came to office there was a promise of a new way of doing politics, offering transparency, accountability and openness. The past ten days have left that claim in tatters, and the Government has proved to be as unaccountable and arrogant as the worst of its predecessors. The handling of the issue by the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Shatter, in particular but also by the Taoiseach has been damaging to public administration, An Garda Síochána and the independence of GSOC. The Government has done everything except what it should have done from the outset, which is to uphold the integrity and protect the independence of GSOC.

Last night a journalist again stated that the security sweep of the GSOC offices was triggered by the inadvertent revelation by the Garda Commissioner in a meeting with GSOC officials that he possessed information that could only come from internal GSOC documents. The documents in question related to Mr. Kieran Boylan, a convicted drug smuggler who faced six charges in connection with the seizure of €1.7 million of cocaine and heroin at a transport yard in County Louth in October 2005.

On the last day of that trial in July 2008, the charges were dropped without explanation. It has been claimed that the case was withdrawn in order to prevent Mr. Boylan from revealing details of his alleged involvement with individual gardaí. GSOC subsequently investigated the claim that Boylan was rung by an elite unit within the Garda, that he had acted as an informer and that gardaí knew he was importing drugs while working for them. A file was sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions but it directed that there could be no prosecution of any member of An Garda Síochána. No garda was disciplined. The GSOC report accused gardaí of delaying the investigation, which lasted for four years. The report also expressed concern about how informants are handled.

Instead of clearing up these issues, the Government has left citizens in the dark. Uncertainty and confusion are widespread and people are exposed to various claims and counterclaims. The saga continues. Today, following a radio interview in which I was asked about the Boylan angle, I was contacted at my Dáil office by a man who said he was the Kieran Boylan in question. He objected strongly to Sinn Féin highlighting this aspect of the bugging scandal and complained about journalists having personal details about him. I told him that Sinn Féin has a responsibility to raise these issues and that if GSOC, the body set up to have oversight of the Garda, is being bugged, it is very serious and we have a responsibility to find out whether it is true and who is responsible. I also put it to him that his case was being linked to this matter and that if he had concerns over public comments about him, he should outline and clarify his position publicly. It is cases such as this that point to the need for robust and fully independent police oversight.

Yesterday the Government did a partial U-turn on the need for an inquiry, a full ten days after the scandal first emerged. Yesterday's announcement falls far short of what is required, however. The inquiry is not to be independent; it is merely to be a review and it will have no statutory powers. It will not call witnesses, nor will it have power to compel witnesses to give evidence. The terms of reference will be set by the Minister for Justice and Equality, the man at the very centre of the controversy. Only yesterday, the Minister claimed there was no evidence at all that GSOC was the target of a surveillance operation. Even now, Fine Gael, supported by the Labour Party, is refusing a fully independent inquiry into the scandal, as might be provided for under the Commissions of Investigation Act 2004. If ever there were a case for disentangling politicians from an agency or institution of the State, surely it would arise where that institution is the police force. There should be no public interference with policing. In any modern state, that is accepted as the norm. It might not have been the case throughout the history of this State and it certainly was not the history of the Northern state. However, most modern democracies make the police independently answerable to their own authority, representative of citizens and other interests.

We have said here many times – the two parties opposite were elected on a promise to change this – that the lack of regulation, accountability and oversight created many of the scandals that are now mortifying citizens and that have this State and its people in their current position. The citizens are not stupid. The past two or three years have been immensely educational. Many people have become very politicised and many have become radicalised. They understand more than previously that citizens have to have rights. They can see clearly what this Government is doing. The Government needs to uphold the integrity of the Garda Síochána and GSOC, but its instinct is to blame GSOC. One should note the Taoiseach's remarks and the fact that he had to apologise. He said the commission should have reported to the Minister and was compelled by law to do so. The inference was that GSOC was a lawbreaker. The Taoiseach repeated this point until I corrected him, at which point he begrudgingly accepted that he had misrepresented the legal position.

I cannot conceive of a situation in which an ombudsman would be sent for by any Minister. There are glaring differences between the written account that the commission gave to the Minister, Deputy Shatter, and the account the Minister put to the Dáil. There were gaps that have not yet been explained satisfactorily by the Minister. What the Government should have done was to back out of this and introduce independent experts with the ability to operate under existing laws. That would have shown people that the Government was serious and that it was not a case of its being the same old story.

When it comes to transparent, open and accountable government, Fine Gael and the Labour Party are very good on the rhetoric but useless on delivery. As one of those who was involved in negotiating a new dispensation for policing in the North-----

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