Frances Fitzgerald: 'no reason to believe' there is a special focus on journalists

There was “no reason to believe” that journalists are singled out for communication data requests by the gardaí or the Garda ombudsman, Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald has said.

However, she declined to comment on how many requests had been made involving journalists saying it was an operational question for gardaí.

Speaking at the launch of a domestic violence strategy, Ms Fitzgerald said there was “no widespread snooping on private individuals” and that the roughly 8,000 requests per year was “relatively low internationally”.