There is little excuse for Shatter not having knowledge of recordings

It seems the widespread taping of telephone calls at Garda stations was such a good secret those who knew about it didn’t want to tell anyone else, least of all the Minister for Justice.

As Clare Daly put it, the now resigned Garda Commissioner found time to tell Alan Shatter about Mick Wallace driving around the Five Lamps in Dublin, but nobody told him about issues of huge importance to the administration of justice.

On a most benign reading, it points to monumental breakdown of communications between the various arms of Government and the State.

In his statement to the Dáil this morning, Mr Shatter insisted he did not know about the widespread recording of telephone conversations until briefed on it by Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Attorney General Máire Whelan on Monday.

He claims he was equally in the dark about communication from Martin Callinan to his department on more specific instances of recordings, and said he was not passed a letter Mr Callinan wrote over two weeks ago until just yesterday.

The problem is, it wasn't just one letter. Mr Shatter said there had been subsequent follow up correspondence between the Garda Síochána and the Data Protection Commissioner, which was also copied to his department last week.

Mr Shatter said he was in Mexico for St Patrick's Day celebrations, and was not briefed until 6pm on Monday about the widespread recording of phone calls.

Taking Mr Shatter at face value, the questions now turn to the Attorney General, and why she didn’t inform the Government of this issue sooner. Ms Whelan was aware of the recordings in November, but only informed Taoiseach Enda Kenny at the weekend.

Attempting to explain the delay this morning, Mr Kenny said: "The Attorney General is bound to have all of the facts at her disposal before she can make a judgement."

However, given the magnitude of what has now emerged, it seems strange, to put it mildly, that nobody at Cabinet, bar the Attorney General herself, was aware of what was going on.

There are also serious questions to be asked of a Department of Justice that doesn’t inform its minister of such serious issues.

Personal issues and a trip to Mexico aside, there is no excuse for Mr Shatter not having knowledge of recordings bubbling along beneath him.

The spreading of responsibility by Mr Shatter is being painted by the Opposition as the minister trying to pass the buck and make scapegoats of the Attorney General and senior officials in his own department.

There is a risk that might not wash anymore. Given the numerous scandals Mr Shatter has now faced, the public will not look kindly on the minister staying put while others resign.

The early signals from some in Labour are not good, with rumblings that Mr Shatter had not cleared this up satisfactorily.

There is also a political reality at play here. The Attorney General is a Labour appointee, and Mr Shatter a Fine Gael minister.

The principles of mutually assured destruction apply and, like in the Cold War, will likely end up in stalemate or damage on both sides.