Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach will note that I did not ask about operations, the issuing of summonses or anything like that. I asked a very simple question about the leaking of that information. It is unprecedented that people - named individuals - discover in reports on RTE that they will be charged with false imprisonment. That is an outrageous infringement on their right to privacy and the administration of justice.

I want to press the Taoiseach on the question of Operation Mizen. If a Deputy is being spied upon by a secret group within the Garda, that is a very serious matter. If people are being spied upon because they are water charges protestors and exercising their democratic and constitutional right to assemble and protest, that is a serious matter. It is a very simple question. The Taoiseach can state that the day-to-day operations are in the hands of the Garda Commissioner. However, were he, the Government or the Minister for Justice and Equality, to his knowledge, aware of the foundation of the unit and how it operates? Have they received any reports from it? If, in Putin's Russia or elsewhere, opposition members were threatened with jail because of their involvement with protests and they and activists were spied upon and denied the right to fund-raise, there would be justifiable outrage in the media and this House. I would like answers on the question of Operation Mizen.

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