PAC to ask for information on Garda and prison phone recording systems

The Public Accounts Committee is set to write to the Gardaí and the Irish Prisons Service asking for information about their phone recording systems.

However, the committee has suggested it will wait for the terms of reference for the Fennelly Inquiry into the Garda Tapes to be announced before it makes any decision on whether to investigate.

The Comptroller & Auditor General, Seamus McCarthy, says he believes Gardaí spent at least €40,000-a-year maintaining the recording system.

But, he says he is reluctant to begin any investigation in case it overlaps with the one being carried out by Justice Fennelly.