GSOC bugging scandal - We deserve better from Government

Justice Minister Alan Shatter has a habit of saying far too much when he shouldn’t and not nearly enough when he should.

He appeared before the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions yesterday to discuss the suspected bugging of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission offices.

If committee members were expecting any great revelations from Mr Shatter, they were disappointed. It was less a conversation than a lecture from the minister who insists his sole concern is the restoration of confidence in GSOC, while acknowledging public disquiet that something is amiss or, as he put it: “If something goes wrong, who watches the watchdog?”