Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour) | Oireachtas source

It seems to me that they are all questions Deputy McDonald should usefully put to the Taoiseach. I do not keep the Taoiseach’s diary. I do not know what meetings he did or did not have on Sunday 23 March. With the greatest respect, Deputy McDonald should ask him directly about those issues.

What I do know is that the Government took the question of the taping of conversations in Garda stations very seriously. I had an opportunity to address questions on the issue previously. I made the point that it is very serious from the point of view of people whose conversations were taped and of gardaí whose conversations might have been taped without their knowledge. From what we were told at the time, there were a number of taped conversations. What we have done in respect of that is to establish a formal commission of investigation which is chaired by Mr. Justice Nial Fennelly. It was established very quickly by the Government on 1 April, very shortly after the information came to light. The commission has been asked to report back by the end of the year. A Supplementary Estimate to ensure the commission is able to do its work was passed by this House, and I have no doubt the commission will in any event examine some of the various issues raised by Deputy McDonald this morning.

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