Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 11 December 2013
127. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the response he has received from the Garda Síochána regarding whether the telephone of the Taoiseach was bugged by the United States National Security Agency; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47683/13]
View answerThe House will appreciate that it is not the practice to comment on matters of national or personal security. But I can say that there is no evidence available to indicate that the phone of the Taoiseach was subject to the types of activities referred to by the Deputy.
The Irish Government’s concerns in relation to surveillance issues have been conveyed bilaterally in contacts with the US Embassy in Dublin and it has been made clear to the US Embassy that any such surveillance here would be unacceptable.
In a response to a previous Parliamentary Question on this matter my colleague the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade indicated that following allegations of US surveillance of European Union institutions earlier this year, the EU has engaged regularly with the US authorities in both Washington and Brussels to seek clarification on the issues raised. An EU-US High Level Expert Group on data protection has been established, where this and related matters are discussed. The EU is represented on this working group by the European Commission, the Presidency of the Council and the European External Action Service (EEAS), and the work of the group is ongoing. A number of meetings have already taken place in Brussels and in Washington. Following this work, the Commission and the Presidency are expected to issue a public, factual report.
