Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

-----followed by the usual dosage of contrived outrage, something we see again this morning.

The simple truth is GSOC did not furnish the report mentioned to me and I am advised that it did not furnish it to my departmental officials nor bring it to the Department's attention. GSOC, no doubt, can confirm this. Because of the background to the GSOC report, GSOC had no obligation under the 2005 Act to furnish it to me, but did have a discretion to furnish it to any "person that the Commission considers has a sufficient interest in the matter". GSOC obviously did not regard this report as of sufficient importance to furnish it specifically to me or my Department, but issued it as a press release. It also seems, from the checking my officials have been able to undertake to date, that no Deputy in this House regarded the publication of sufficient importance to table a Dáil question on it, but I am open to correction on that because of the limited time available to check on that matter.

It may be the case that no Member of the House read this report until yesterday or, if they did, they placed no importance on it. In so far as it received any media coverage, it does not appear as if any member of the media regarded the report as of any major importance. Again, I am open to correction. This is understandable, as the report gives no insight into the extent of recordings made by An Garda Síochána, nor did GSOC determine it an issue worthy of further investigation. GSOC could, if it wished, have initiated a public interest investigation into the matter under section 102(4) of the Garda Síochána Act 2002. Had it done so, it would also have had to notify me of such investigation under section 103(1)(b) of the Act, unless GSOC invoked section 103(2), but I cannot see how that subsection could be of relevance. In case I am misunderstood, I am making no criticism of any nature of GSOC. I am merely setting out the position.

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