Bugging of GSOC office ‘may have been’ authorised

The bugging of the Garda Siochána Ombudsman’s office could have been “lawfully” authorised, according to the State’s police watchdog.

In explosive evidence to an Oireachtas committee, Simon O’Brien directly contradicted Justice Minister Alan Shatter’s statement to the Dáil on the controversy in a number of key respects.

Branding the affair a “crisis”, Mr O’Brien said he suspected the Garda Siochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) had been put under electronic surveillance and that he could not rule out gardaí being suspects.