Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Wallace and I are very glad that the issue of surveillance and intrusion into the lives of citizens is finally being addressed and a topic of conversation. We have consistently tried to raise it in this House but to the complete disinterest of the media and political establishment. There is a certain double standard in the outcry over GSOC accessing of journalist phone records and the response has been entirely disproportionate.

Citizens have had their telephone conversations from prison with their solicitors tapped into and intercepted. Gardaí have been involved in some activity which has also been largely unmonitored. It is important to say the information GSOC was seeking was part of a criminal investigation into alleged Garda criminal activity. We know that there has been a huge problem with gardaí giving information to the press, which is often not in the public interest and breaches the privacy of citizens. It is very common and there is no action or accountability when it happens. Gardaí have to be accountable to somebody and, in this instance, GSOC is the body responsible. Its powers which are now in the public spotlight are powers which the Garda and other organisations also have. It is really important that we seize the opportunity, now that this information is coming into the public domain and somehow striking a chord in a way it never did before, to look at this issue because the right to privacy and other fundamental human rights are important. The Minister says she is to have a review, but it seems she is only reviewing the 2011 Act with regard to information on journalists. We need a review of the 2009 Surveillance Act and the Interception of Postal Packets and Telecommunications Messages (Regulation) Act 1993. That review must be conducted in the interests of all citizens, not just journalists, because citizens' rights have been abused. I did not see too many journalists who were concerned about the issue up to now.

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