Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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85. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the protocol regarding the presence of undercover officers from another jurisdiction operating here; if the Garda Commissioner has to authorise the presence of foreign undercover police; if the Garda Commissioner is obliged to inform her of the presence of undercover police officers in the State; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28140/16]

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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86. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if the identity of an external activist is revealed to the Garda Commissioner and-or her on foot of authorisation being granted by the Garda Commissioner to another police force to place an external activist under surveillance in the State. [28141/16]

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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87. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the safeguards in place to ensure that foreign undercover police officers carrying out surveillance of external activists within the State are not acting as agent provocateurs and that the civil liberties of Irish citizens are not compromised. [28142/16]

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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88. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if the surveillance gathered by foreign undercover police officers while operating in the State is shared with An Garda Síochána. [28143/16]

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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89. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the definition of exercising police powers when referring to members of undercover police units from another jurisdiction operating in the State. [28144/16]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 85 to 89, inclusive, together.

I would refer the Deputy to my reply to Question No. 23 (and related Questions) of 16 September 2016 which dealt at some length with issues arising in this regard. I would reiterate for the Deputy that these are entirely operational matters for the Garda Authorities, to be carried out in accordance with their functions as set out in the Garda Síochána Acts, and neither I nor my Department would be involved in such arrangements.

As I have set out previously to the House, it is the advice of the Garda Authorities that assistance from police services from other jurisdictions is a recognised and necessary tactic for managing circumstances where persons from outside the jurisdiction who are unknown to local police may seek to foment or engage in violent protest actions here. Any such arrangements are a matter for operational decisions made between the police services involved and must, of course, operate in accordance with the law.

I would emphasise the point I made previously that there can be no question of any person being permitted to engage in criminal activities here in any circumstances. Any evidence of criminality would be pursued fully the Garda Authorities. There is no question of a police officer from outside the jurisdiction exercising police powers here - by that is meant that an officer from a police service other than An Garda Síochána cannot exercise the powers available to members of An Garda Síochána in respect of fulfilling the functions for which they have responsibility under the Garda Síochána Acts.