Justice Minister refers Alan Kelly's questions on phone bugging to judge

Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan has referred questions by Labour TD Alan Kelly to a judge over whether his phone might be bugged, saying he has concerns about the matters raised.

As revealed by the Irish Examiner, Mr Kelly had asked Mr Flanagan if his phone had ever been bugged by gardaí or his communications intercepted.

Asked why he felt his communications may be under surveillance, Mr Kelly yesterday said: “I have done this for two reasons — one is because it has been raised with me, be very clear about this, raised with me to watch all my communications. These are people who, obviously, I have been working with for some period of time, as you are well aware, given the questions I have been asking over the last number of months in particular.”

The second reason given by Mr Kelly was that he hoped to spark a discussion on legislation of the monitoring of communications.

He said: “My main concern here is to find out are people like journalists and deputies protected under the law? The second thing I want to know is — is the legislation robust?”

A Dáil question submitted by Mr Kelly seeks to discover if his phones, communications records, or data was requested from service providers by gardaí over the last five years.

A Department of Justice response stated: “The minister is, of course, concerned about the matters raised by Deputy Kelly in respect of his phone and telecommunications data. Independent judicial mechanisms are provided for in the law to address concerns of this nature.”

Mr Flanagan noted there was a complaints referee, Judge John Hannan of the Circuit Court, who can investigate if communications have been accessed. Oversight of the operation of relevant legislation is also vested in a High Court judge, Ms Justice Marie Baker.

The statement adds: “Given the seriousness of Deputy Kelly’s allegations, the minister has this morning arranged for his concerns to be brought to the attention of the designated judge for whatever action she deems appropriate, in accordance with the law.”