Update laws to criminalise gangs 'spying on gardaí', says law expert

In his analysis, Ger Coffey identified a gap in the legislation covering the spy activities of gangs in a bid to thwart gardaí. File Picture: PA

Ireland’s surveillance laws need to be updated to make it illegal for criminal gangs to carry out counter surveillance on gardaí who they believe are spying on them, a legal expert has said.

Ger Coffey, an associate professor at the School of Law at the University of Limerick, said it was reasonable to assume organised crime groups were engaged in “highly sophisticated” counter surveillance on those conducting covert spy operations on them.