Following the evidence of the chairman of GSOC to the Joint Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions yesterday it has become evident that the Government has sought to mislead citizens about the bugging controversy. Let us be clear. To avoid surveillance, members of a Government oversight agency were forced to meet in cafés rather than hold meetings in their offices and to stop using their mobile phones. This is an outrageous situation. The Government response has been equally outrageous. The Taoiseach and Minister for Justice and Equality came into this Chamber and made statements on the record that have been flatly contradicted by the chairman of GSOC. It is clear that the Government tried to shut down the demand for transparency surrounding the bugging scandal at GSOC. According to the Taoiseach and Minister, Deputy Shatter, there was no evidence of bugging. They told us that claims of bugging were baseless innuendo, that the sweep of the GSOC office last year was routine and was prompted by no specific concern. The Taoiseach told the Dáil that we could now put this matter behind us - nothing to see here.

The Ombudsman believes, and has evidence to support his belief, that there was a credible threat to the security of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission. We now know that the security sweep of the GSOC office was sparked by heightened concerns of breaches of confidentiality last May. We also know that following assessment of the threats identified in the sweep in September a public interest investigation was ordered as the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission believed authorised or unauthorised elements of the Garda Síochána may have been involved in this surveillance. Did the Minister know of this?

The chairman has now also confirmed that the third threat came from government level technology. The Minister for Justice and Equality was briefed on all of this but the account he chose to give to the Dáil on Tuesday is at odds with that outlined by the chairman of GSOC yesterday. The Minister for Justice and Equality, it appears, has sought to muddy the waters and this is unacceptable. Will the Tánaiste step up and move speedily to establish an independent inquiry?

It is important that this issue is fully explored. For this reason, I support the process under way by the Joint Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions. As I understand it, that committee, on the conclusion of yesterday's meeting with the chairman of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, decided to do two things. First, to request the full report presented to the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission - it is a matter for the commission, which is independent, whether or not to provide that report to the committee - and, second to invite the Minister for Justice and Equality to appear before it to answer whatever questions it wishes to put him on the issue. The Minister is willing to do that.

In the first instance, we should allow that committee to pursue the line of inquiry in which it is engaged and to do the job it has to do. As in the case of every other public body, the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission appears before Oireachtas committees as appropriate to answer for its stewardship. That is what is being done in this regard. I believe that is the process that should be followed. We should allow that process to continue and not pre-empt it. We all regard as serious the possibility of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission being subject to any kind of surveillance or leaking of confidential information into the public domain. The chairman of GSOC has set out the approach taken by the commission to date. As I said, the commission operates independently and we should all respect that. We should allow the process now under way to continue and to establish whatever information needs to be established.

The Tánaiste is passing the buck, which is not all that surprising. Yesterday, it took a considerable period to have the Taoiseach admit that he had misquoted the Garda Síochána Act 2005. His first reaction when all of this came to public attention was to point the finger at the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission and apportion blame there. That is what the Taoiseach did. He now accepts that he misquoted the legislation. Does the Tánaiste accept that it was utterly inappropriate for the Taoiseach in the first instance to point the finger at the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, which independent body the Tánaiste now lauds?

The record will reflect that the Minister, Deputy Shatter, was incomplete in his account of this matter to the Dáil. The Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission did trigger a public interest investigation because it believed there may have been Garda Síochána involvement in surveillance of its offices. I am sure the Tánaiste grasps the full seriousness of this. Why, when the Minister, Deputy Shatter, was aware of this fact did he deliberately omit it from his statement to the Dáil? As the Tánaiste is aware, the Minister, Deputy Shatter, has form on these matters. When two garda whistleblowers stepped forward recently he was quick off the blocks to rubbish them. This controversy emerges and he is out of the traps to rubbish the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission. That is his style.

A question please.

It appears to me now that is the style of this Government. The Government has now placed a question mark over its ability to oversee impartial, accountable policing in this State. This is the gravest disservice which the Government can do to An Garda Síochána. Can the Tánaiste confirm that no agency of this State was authorised to put GSOC under surveillance? Can he categorically state that no arm of this State was authorised to put the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission under surveillance? Can the Tánaiste answer that question? Notwithstanding the investigation by the committee, can he confirm the establishment of the independent inquiry which these matters given their gravity require?

Deputy McDonald is one to talk about surveillance.

The serious issue here is the possibility that an independent body, whose job it is to investigate complaints or allegations of misconduct against the Garda Síochána, might have been under surveillance and that confidentiality in respect of information of which it is seized has been breached.

I think that is the serious issue here. The GSOC brought in experts to do the sweep of its offices. It did a follow-up investigation following on from that. The chairperson of the commission has brought that information before the Oireachtas committee and the Oireachtas committee is going to have further investigations and will ask the Minister for Justice and Equality about issues arising from that. I believe that is the right course of action to take because the critical issue is that the independence of the commission is maintained and upheld and that there is public confidence in the Garda. I appreciate that members of the Opposition parties want to politicise that in some way and find a way in which-----

Absolutely not.

We want answers.

They figure this is a way in which they can put the Minister for Justice and Equality and the Government in the dock and that it is another issue with which to have a thump at the Minister, Deputy Shatter, and the Government. The Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Shatter, has been a long advocate of the establishment of an independent Garda ombudsman commission. He and the Government fully respect that and there is no issue or doubt about it. We have heard what the chairman of the GSOC has had to say.

It did not tally with what the Minister had to say.

No. That is not the case.

Sorry, we are over time. I am calling Deputy Joan Collins now.

The Tánaiste should answer the question.

I have answered the question.

The answer is "Yes" or "No".

The gate is broken and the bull is out.

The question Deputy McDonald asked was whether I was satisfied that no organ of the State put the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission under surveillance. Yes, I am.