Garda chief: Informants not run ‘off-book

Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan has rejected accusations that informants were being run “off-book” outside the official system.

He said there was a “very tight regime” in place and that neither he nor any of his senior team was aware of gardaí bypassing the Covert Human Intelligence Source (CHIS) system.

Mr Callinan was responding to questioning from members of an Oireachtas committee, which was examining a report from the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission.