Unfair to criticise Minister Shatter over delay

We do not yet know whether the delay in informing Minister Alan Shatter of the Garda recording of phone calls was due to an administrative error, or because senior departmental officials were actively considering the matter and wanted to be in full possession of the facts together with some possible solutions before bringing the matter to the minister’s attention.

What we do know is that the recording had been taking place over many years and during the periods in office of many ministers, governments, and indeed, Garda commissioners.

In that context, a delay of a couple of weeks in bringing the matter to the attention of the minister hardly seems a hanging offence.

Even now we still don’t know the full extent of the problems which the recordings might create, and no quick, easy, or comprehensive solution has been found.

We live in an era of easy soundbites and 24-hour news cycles.

That does not mean that all problems are susceptible to instant solutions, and criticising the minister for the delay seems rather to be a distraction from a much larger issue: the failure of successive governments and ministers to provide adequate mechanisms and structures for the effective and independent oversight of the Gardaí.

Frank Schnittger

Blessington

Co Wicklow