The names is Bond, Seamus Bond

WE DON’T know who they are or what exactly they do, but we can tell you they spent almost €1 million last year

The Irish Secret Service’s budget has been increased by 131% this year in the wake of last year’s September 11 attacks, Department of Finance figures reveal.

Last year the service received €390,000 but this year that figure has been increased by more than half a million to €900,000.

However the Department of Finance yesterday said it could not provide any information about what the service does, how it operates or how many operatives may be employed.

In some ways the Irish Secret Service is even more secretive than other more well known agencies, such as the Israeli secret service Mossad, Britain’s M15 and the CIA which all have named directors.

But details as to who heads up the Irish Secret Service cannot be revealed, a spokesperson for the Department of Finance said. Parliamentary questions down through the years have also yielded little information.

In responding to a question put by the Green Party’s Trevor Sargent in 1998, Finance Minister Charlie McCreevy said: “The purpose of the Secret Service is to obtain information which is necessary for the security of the country... it is not possible to provide detailed information as to how the allocation will be spent.”

Security sources said yesterday the service likely played a miniscule intelligence role compared with the State’s other security and intelligence gathering agencies.

Army Intelligence, known as G2, and garda Special Detective Unit, formerly the Special Branch, are both well regarded internationally.