TD wants to know who tried to influence GSOC inquiry witnesses

Further explanations have been demanded about who tried to contact witnesses before they spoke to retired judge, John Cooke, in an attempt to influence his investigation into allegations of bugging at the Garda Ombudsman Commission’s office.

The report, published on Tuesday, contained details of phone conversations between an individual who phoned a member of the security company, Verrimus, involved in a sweep of GSOC’s headquarters.

The individual asked the Verrimus man to impress on Mr Cooke “you would like the gardaí actually to get a copy of everything” and “gardaí need to know exactly what it is that you actually discovered”.

In another call, the man said the judge wasn’t a “technical man” and, in an apparent reference to the defence forces, that “the boys in green are trying to get a man in there”.

Mr Cooke also noted an “unsolicited offer” was made to the Department of the Taoiseach of assistance from an individual who had 20 years in the Defence Forces. The offer was not accepted.

Mr Cooke concluded he should not investigate the calls further, as they did not fall within the terms of reference, but that they had not succeeded in influencing the inquiry.

Independent TD, Clare Daly, told the Dáil yesterday there was a “huge divergence” between the findings of the report and what was “spun” to the media about its findings.

“No explanation has been given of who tried to contact Verrimus in relation to its involvement in the inquiry.”

The report also finds mysterious men caught photographing Verrimus staff at Dublin Airport “could have been members of the Garda security branch,” Ms Daly said.

And she said no explanation has been given about Mr Cooke’s finding on the “possible evidence” of “ambient listening” — a form of eavesdropping on the phones of GSOC staff.

During leaders’ questions in the Dáil, she said: “The elephant in the room is the huge divergence between the report itself and the way in which it is being spun. The Cooke Report didn’t find any truth and it didn’t find any answers because it was constructed in a manner to ensure that it wouldn’t.”

The TD referred to Mr Cooke’s comment that “the conclusions presented in this report are based upon my personal evaluation and opinion” based on information available of voluntarily provided to him.

She said there was not a single garda interviewed or log book examined: “He’s a retired judge — it’s a personal opinion. You might as well have had the opinion of a retired dentist or doctor for all the difference that it makes.”

Labour leader Eamon Gilmore responded that TDs will have an opportunity to “ventilate” the issues when the Dáil debates the report next week.