Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 24 Oct 1995

Vol. 457 No. 4

Written Answers. - Alleged Surveillance of Minister.

John O'Donoghue

Ceist:

161 Mr. O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Justice the precise date on which she first learnt of alleged surveillance of the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications; the person who informed her of this alleged surveillance; the action, if any, she took on foot of this information; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15542/95]

John O'Donoghue

Ceist:

162 Mr. O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Justice the contacts, if any, she has had with the Garda Síochána regarding allegations of surveillance made by the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15543/95]

John O'Donoghue

Ceist:

163 Mr. O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Justice whether she has received a report on alleged surveillance of the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications; if so, when she received the report; the contents and conclusions of the report; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15545/95]

John O'Donoghue

Ceist:

164 Mr. O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Justice the person who carried out the report on alleged surveillance of the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications; where this person was working; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15546/95]

Minister for Justice (Mrs. Owen)

I propose to answer Questions Nos. 161 to 164, inclusive, together.

The first I heard of allegations concerning surveillance placed on the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications and others was on 24 July 1995, when the Minister himself phoned me about the matter. He told me that he had received letters containing serious allegations, including an allegation that he himself and others had been placed under surveillance. He stated that he wished to hand over correspondence on the matter to a senior Garda officer and he asked me if I could arrange to pass on the name of an appropriate Garda officer to meet with him.

Later that day, I mentioned the matter to the Secretary of my Department who informed me that he had been approached on 17 July by the group chief executive of CIE, whom he knew, and who had given him a copy of a letter dated 16 July addressed to the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications which contained various allegations, including the allegation that there was surveillance of the group chief executive, the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications and the newly appointed chairman of CIE. I was not aware of this approach until 24 July when I spoke to the Secretary. The Secretary informed me that the group chief executive was very concerned about the matter generally but, particularly, the allegation that he was under surveillance. The Secretary also informed me that he had been in contact with the Garda Commissioner on the matter on 18 July.

Following my conversation with the Secretary, I contacted the Garda authorities about the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications' request for the name of a senior Garda. In a conversation with the Minister later that day, I also alerted him to the earlier approach made to my Department by the chief executive of CIE. Following that discussion, arrangements were then made in the Department of Transport, Energy and Communications for their Minister, whose concern about this matter was clear, and seemed to me to be quite understandable in all the circumstances, to see the gardaí himself. That meeting took place the following day — on 25 July — when the Minister was met by a senior Garda officer.

I am informed by the Garda authorities that, having examined the information provided, and taking the Garda's investigative role of criminal issues into account, the Garda authorities decided that the Garda Síochána had no investigative role in relation to the particular allegation of surveillance. The Garda issued a press statement to this effect on 6 August.

The Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications was made aware of the Garda decision by letter dated 31 July and a faxed copy of that letter was also forwarded by the Garda authorities, for information, to my office on 2 August. I am informed by the Garda authorities that, in view of the decision they had taken in relation to the surveillance allegations, no report was prepared by the Garda Síochána on the surveillance issue and that the question of the content and conclusions of such a report does not therefore arise.

The allegation that the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications was the subject of surveillance was one of a number of serious allegations contained in a series of letters received by members of the Government and others between May and August of this year. All the correspondence brought to my attention was referred to the Garda authorities to consider whether a Garda investigation should take place in relation to the matters raised. The Commissioner has recently written to the Secretary of my Department seeking further information from a number of Departments to assist him in this regard and that request is currently being attended to.

The senior Garda officer who met the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications on 25 July was attached to the Crime Branch, Garda Headquarters at that time. Since then he has been assigned to the Central Detective Unit, Harcourt Square, to take charge of that unit and the investigation of serious crime, as part of a reassignment of a number of officers. I have no role in decisions regarding the assignment of individual gardaí. It is a matter for the Garda authorities and I am informed by the Garda authorities that the decision to reassign the officer concerned was not related in any way to the subject matter of these questions.