Garda taping inquiry will examine Callinan resignation

The commission of investigation into the Garda taping controversy will examine the circumstances surrounding the resignation of former Garda commissioner Martin Callinan.

It will also focus on the investigation into the death of Sophie Toscan Du Plantier and whether taping was carried out during Garda inquiries into this case.

A Government statement following the weekly Cabinet meeting this morning also said Supreme Court Judge Nial Fennelly will "establish whether those recorded phone calls, and any other acts or events…disclose any evidence of unlawful or improper conduct by members of An Garda Síochána in connection with that investigation".

Government sources claimed the inclusion of the Du Plantier case is significant, and pointed out there has been no investigation into the activity of An Garda Síochána around that case.

Judge Fennelly, who is chairing the commission of investigation, is due to complete his final report by the end of the year.

The terms of reference for the new Cabinet sub-committee on Justice Reform were also agreed, and they are: “To oversee the development of proposals for an independent police authority, and other associated reforms to the policing and justice system.”

The main issues to be investigated by Judge Fennelly’s inquiry are:

- The operation of telephone recording systems to record calls, aside from emergency calls, at Garda stations.

- the specific implications of taping relating to the Garda investigation into the death of Ms Du Plantier in Cork in December 1996.

- How these matters were dealt with by the responsible authorities.

- The sequence of events leading up to the retirement of Mr Callinan last month. This will include how his letter of March 10th to the Department of Justice on the taping issue was handled.

-The recording of phone calls at prisons.

The inquiry will also identify all Garda stations where phone calls were recorded, as well as establishing a date for when the recordings began and how long they were in operation in each Garda station.

Judge Fennelly will also examine what authorisation was sought and given for the recordings, if any, as well as for upgrades of the recording systems in 1996 and 2008; if any information obtained through recordings was used improperly or unlawfully; the level of knowledge of the recordings within organisations such as An Garda Síochána, the Attorney General’s office, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), the Department of Justice, as well as the Minister for Justice’s office, amongst others; if the recordings and installation of the taping systems were lawful; if calls between solicitors and their clients were taped; how the recording systems were managed; if recordings have been destroyed and if any information obtained was used by the DPP.

Judge Fennelly will also be able to report on any “other matters of concern arising from its investigation of recordings to and from Garda Stations and to make any further recommendations”.