Susan O'Keeffe (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I share the concerns others have raised at the apparent bugging of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission’s, GSOC, office. It has a serious role to play. If anyone has deliberately set out to cause damage to its activity then they will have questions to answer and must be held accountable. How we do that is a matter of debate in this House and elsewhere. I am a member of the Joint Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions. We have a role to play. Parliament has the right to ask questions to try to establish what happened. At this point, whether there is a need for an independent inquiry remains to be seen but the fact that GSOC is coming readily to the committee tomorrow is a good sign. I will ask the Garda Commissioner to also come back before the committee because there is so much confusion and so many remarks have been made in the public arena that it is the right place for it to be sorted out, and it would be welcome for the Garda Commissioner to have his opportunity to speak in a fair and clear manner. While it remains to be seen, it may well be the case that we need also to have a debate in this House on the matter.

In fact, the matters Senator Norris raised, have also been raised with the Joint Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions last week. We will look into those matters. Perhaps I might be able to have a word with him on the issue afterwards.