Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The reaction by the Government to the GSOC crisis highlights its worrying dysfunctionality. What do I mean by this? The Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Alan Shatter, who is also the Minister for Defence, wields unprecedented power that, if abused, could realistically undermine the most important institutions of the State. When the news broke that one of the most important investigative bodies in the State, GSOC, had been targeted in a covert surveillance operation, the Minister's response was to downplay it and try to deflect attention from the real issue by attempting to discredit senior GSOC personnel.

"Nothing to see or hear, so move on" was the central theme of the Government's narrative in what many would see as a dereliction of office and a failure to investigate a matter of potentially vital national importance. Surely the Minister charged with the security of the State should have immediately launched an inquiry into who was conducting real time surveillance of GSOC.

Nuala O'Loan, who was the first Police Ombudsman in the North, has made clear her view that GSOC lacks the necessary powers to hold the Garda properly to account. The views of the former Police Ombudsman are shared by Sinn Féin. From its inception, the relationship between some elements of An Garda Síochána and GSOC has been at best fraught and at times openly hostile. We must rationally consider what triggered GSOC to employ the services of British-based security specialists to sweep its office on two separate occasions. There were suggestions that elements of An Garda Síochána were bugging GSOC, which suggests something rotten in the relationship between both organisations.

In the North, the Police Ombudsman routinely carries out security sweeps, a practice that Nuala O'Loan described as "good housekeeping" and it is under no obligation to report this to anybody. Ms O'Loan also had some important advice about the existing legislation, saying it was a matter of urgency "that the legislation underpinning the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission ought to be reviewed to grant powers of investigation to senior officers including the Commissioner." Sinn Féin shares Ms O'Loan's concerns and is committed to producing amended legislation which will address the fatal flaws which limit the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission from fulfilling its role.

Ms O'Loan also stated that she would not have been able to fulfil her role as Police Ombudsman if she had lacked the power to investigate the head of the PSNI, for example, because anybody under investigation could claim they were following orders from the top. This is supported by an academic study by Conway and Walsh into GSOC from 2008 to 2010, which found that 45% of all complaints about the Garda submitted to GSOC were investigated by the Garda, either supervised or unsupervised by GSOC. That is hardly the beginning that was promised following the Garda misconduct that led to the Morris tribunal. This is all the more worrying considering that GSOC is supposed to be an independent investigative and oversight body. The Cabinet has agreed to review this legislation, but it appears to have been dragged kicking and screaming to review the mandate and legislation underpinning GSOC.

Can this Government, and a Minister whom many believe has completely undermined GSOC and sought to discredit it throughout this controversy, really be trusted to implement such a review? The Government must stop focusing on spin and misinformation and concentrate on the bigger picture.

The substantial issue is that it appears GSOC was under surveillance. A real and robust independent investigation into what really happened must begin as a matter of urgency. When the review was announced by the Taoiseach, the Minister for Justice and Equality immediately attempted to undermine it by stating, once again, that there was no evidence of Garda surveillance of GSOC. Surely an independent Minister should have waited for the outcome of the review. The same Minister cannot be involved in any aspect of the creation, design or structure of the proposed review. It must be an independent investigation. That is the credible and democratic thing to do, and it is the only way we will find out what really happened.

This issue is at the heart of the credibility of the administration of policing and justice in this State. The longer the issue continues without an independent investigation, the further the public's trust will be eroded.

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