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?”

The situation under review could hardly be more serious and points to possible skulduggery at the heart of our justice system. That alleged bugging was conducted in the context of a GSOC investigation into the relationship between drug dealer Kieran Boylan and gardaí responsible for his handling as an informant. GSOC concluded that prosecutions of certain gardaí were warranted but the DPP decided not to proceed to trial on the basis of “national security considerations”.

The broader context concerns Garda whistleblower Sgt Maurice McCabe who tried in vain to bring abuses in the penalty points system to the attention of Mr Shatter and the Taoiseach. He then spoke to Oliver Connolly, a lawyer appointed by Mr Shatter in 2011 as a point of contact for whistleblowers within the gardaí.

Yesterday, the Taoiseach told a shocked Dáil that the minister had sacked Connolly, presumably because of a warning he had issued to Sgt McCabe that Shatter would come after him if his claims reached the media.

Opposition TDs are baying for blood, demanding an independent inquiry into the alleged GSOC bugging and dismissing the appointment of a High Court judge to review documentary evidence as far too little for such a weighty matter. It is hard to disagree with that assessment, yet all the Government seems capable of is a collective exercise of ducking and diving.

For starters, Mr Shatter has been telling Oireachtas members the whole thing is a ball of smoke. He has even concluded there is no evidence any bugging took place. In other words, in a manner typical of his high- handedness, he has reached a conclusion before the review by High Court judge John Cooke has begun.

While under the terms of reference the judge can call witnesses, he must bring his conclusions to Mr Shatter himself. How truly independent can that be? As a central player in the controversy, his role in any inquiry should be that of a witness, not the person controlling and setting the terms of reference. His dismissive approach is echoed by Cabinet colleague Pat Rabbitte who chided an RTÉ radio interviewer yesterday for pressing him on the matter and tut-tutted about “unnecessary hysteria”.

But it is Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s stand on the whole sorry mess that is most disconcerting. His contribution has been to issue confusing and bland statements and to take juvenile pot-shots in the Dáil at Sinn Féin.

Our justice system deserves better. Our Oireachtas deserves better.

More importantly, we, the people, deserve better.