Watchdog agency ‘may never know if it was bugged’

The head of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission has said it may never be known if the watchdog agency was bugged or not because of the type of technology used in such surveillance.

GSOC chairman Simon O’Brien also said he would be staying in his post after a Government-commissioned report found no evidence to support concerns the agency may have been bugged.

His comments came after a retired judge found that evidence did not support the proposition that surveillance of GSOC took place or that it was carried out by gardaí.