Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

It does not surprise me but it is completely scandalous that we have revelations from yet another Garda whistleblower alleging that innocent people's phones are being tapped. In one case, according to the allegation, a sitting Deputy had his or her phone tapped by An Garda Síochána, possibly as a result of pressure from a Minister. Certainly, the whistleblower believes it was a political move by a Minister at the time. The garda was subsequently transferred which certainly suggests that there was something seriously amiss and that the correct procedures for getting these taps were not being followed.

Deputy Clare Daly has alluded to the Interception of Postal Packets and Telecommunications Messages (Regulation) Act 1993, which allows for bugging. The Criminal Justice (Surveillance) Act 2009 allows the police to break into one's house to install cameras and to come back after three months to take those cameras out. One might not know they were ever in one's house. There have been extraordinary allegations that all this is being done without proper procedure and oversight, and possibly for political reasons. The Taoiseach is supposed to get an annual report on complaints, but we have been told that no such records can be found, which is unacceptable. Will the Tánaiste get these reports? If there are any irregularities, will she hand the names over to the Director of Public Prosecutions? Can she say how times phone and mail surveillance has been authorised by her and other justice Ministers under her Government? How many of these cases of surveillance were political?

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