Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

108. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if the contacts his Department has had with An Garda Síochána on Operation Mizen will be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51742/17]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I have asked my Department to examine what material is held on file that may be relevant to the Deputy’s request with a view to identifying material that might be provided to him and I will revert directly to him in this regard.

As has been explained previously to the Deputy, Operation Mizen was established by An Garda Síochána as a national co-ordination office to support the policing response to maintain public order and to ensure the safety of all involved in the protests against water charges.  Contrary to assertions made previously by the Deputy, Operation Mizen was not a surveillance programme operated by An Garda Síochána.

One aspect of the Garda Authorities' approach in this context was to make use of open source information, that is to say, information available publicly to anyone, anywhere from the internet and social media platforms.