Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The succession of bad decisions taken by the Minister, supported by the Government and intended to obstruct proper scrutiny of policing, have done untold damage to public confidence in the administration of justice and to An Garda Síochána. The latest twist in the succession of scandals and crises that have emerged on the Minister's watch occurred yesterday. We were told that the Government had only become aware that a system had been in place in a large number of Garda stations whereby incoming and outgoing telephone calls were illegally recorded. The Government stated it was "extremely concerned about this information." Consequently, it decided to do what thus far it has refused to do through all of the other crises - to set up a commission of investigation. Within hours the presented narrative had begun to unravel. We discovered that a Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, GSOC, report published last June had clearly identified the Garda practice of recording outgoing and incoming calls. In other words, this news was not new. At the time the ombudsman stated the "Garda Commissioner may wish to re-evaluate his practise regarding the recording of such calls." The Minister has today alleged that the report was not sent to either his desk or the Department. It is remarkable that, with the array of staff available in the Department of Justice and Equality, not one person was dedicated to monitor reports of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission. Is the Minister seriously suggesting nobody in the army of staff available to him has monitored the concerns of GSOC and acted on them, even when there is such a serious recommendation made to the Garda Commissioner? That would be remarkable. Is it credible that the Minister was not told about GSOC's concerns?

We know that the Garda Commissioner discussed this issue with the Attorney General in November, the same month in which the practice was stopped. The Attorney General - a Cabinet colleague and member of the Government - knew for almost six months about the illegal recording of conversations. Nevertheless, the Taoiseach has said he was only told on Sunday, while the Minister claims he only heard on Monday evening and received a letter on Tuesday morning.

In a further twist it was revealed that the former Garda Commissioner, Mr. Martin Callinan, had written to the Department of Justice and Equality two weeks ago about the recordings. It is reported that he sent a letter to the Secretary General of the Department and asked that the issue be brought to the Minister's attention. Are we also to believe the Minister was only told about this issue afterwards?

The Minister was in Mexico and only learnt about it when he returned.

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