Minister orders probe into 'prostitution ring' row

Senior Government officials are investigating allegations that gardaí turned a blind eye to a major prostitution ring in order to gain information on more serious crimes, it was confirmed tonight.

Junior justice minister Willie O’Dea said he was seriously concerned at reports that two garda informers were allowed to carry on running the Limerick-based vice ring.

He said: “I don’t think we can as a society countenance a situation where quite serious crime is left undetected or unpunished or unpursued for the greater good of apprehending what the gardaí at any particular point in time regard as a more serious crime.”

It was reported in the Sunday World that the two men had made millions of euro through running brothels from apartments in Limerick city for the past four years.

One of them was arrested when officers raided what was described as the operations centre of the ring last week.

The men were described in the newspaper article as “seasoned and paid garda informers“.

Mr O’Dea said that if the allegations were true they would give rise to serious concern.

He said: “Any type of crime which involves trafficking of young women, bringing young women into this country and getting them involved in a life of prostitution in the vice industry, I would regard that as a very serious crime indeed.”

The minister said the issue highlighted the question of how far officers should be allowed to go in using informers.

“My view on this is quite simple,” he told radio. “I don’t think that any sort of criminal activity should be sanctioned or a blind eye should be turned to any sort of criminal activity.

“Maybe that would make the gards’ position impossible, I just don’t know.”

He said he had brought the matter to the attention of the department of justice and that senior officials there were investigating the claims.

“They will be coming back to me and then I will discuss it with the minister,” he added.