Shatter says GSOC inquiry may have been ‘premature’

Justice minister Alan Shatter has cast doubt on the Garda Ombudsman’s justification for launching a public interest investigation into suspected bugging at its Dublin headquarters.

Mr Shatter also said an IT firm he hired had found three alternative reasons to explain the “anomalies” or security threats identified by the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission.

Before the Oireachtas Oversight Committee, Mr Shatter separately said he had not ordered or was aware of any surveillance of TDs, senators or journalists.