Government fears recording of phone calls at Garda stations may threaten convictions

The Government has insisted that a potential threat to criminal convictions due to the recording of phone calls at Garda stations was behind its decision to establish a commission of inquiry into the practice.

Senior Coalition sources said the “last straw” for Mr Kenny was discovering that Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan knew of the recording of calls at Garda stations and had ordered that the practice be stopped last November.

The Irish Times understands the Taoiseach sent a senior official to Mr Callinan on Monday to convey his views. Mr Callinan resigned from his post yesterday morning.

Mr Kenny told the Dáil yesterday that he was only informed on Sunday by Attorney General Maire Whelan of the widespread practice of recording phone calls to Garda stations and its implications.

'Tainted'
Minister for Finance Michael Noonan last night confirmed the Government fears that court proceedings could be "tainted" by the revelations that phone calls from Garda stations had been being taped and stored.

“We must proceed now in a calm and reasoned way to get the full facts to make sure that no litigation, civil or criminal, is tainted as a result. It’s a fear obviously,” he said.

The Cabinet was told that as many as 2,500 tapes have come to light, raising questions as to whether calls between criminal suspects held in Garda stations and their solicitors were secretly recorded.

“There’d be a lot of Government concern in relation to the impact that those tapes have in relation to people already convicted and cases pending,” said a Minister.

However, Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin said that the revelations were not new and he found it extraordinary that the Government was claiming they were. He said that he was beginning to think the Government was trying to pull the wool over people’s eyes on the matter.

It emerged yesterday that Mr Callinan ordered that the taping of calls be ended last November after an investigation by the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) into the practice at Waterford Garda station.

Government sources said last night that evidence of the widespread nature of the phone taping only emerged as the result of a separate court case. Mr Kenny told Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore about the developments at 9am yesterday and later briefed the full Cabinet, which decided to establish a commission of inquiry into the matter.

Independent authority
The Taoiseach briefed Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin and Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams before going into the Dáil yesterday afternoon. He told TDs of the "potential impact of the contents of some of those tapes in respect of cases being heard, cases going through the courts, cases to be followed or maybe cases that were already dealt with."

He also announced that the Government had committed itself to establishing an independent authority for the Garda Síochána that was “appropriate for the needs of this country while maintaining political accountability to the Oireachtas.”

A Government statement issued after the Cabinet meeting said the implications of the matter were “potentially of such gravity that the Government has decided to set up a statutory Commission of Investigation into this matter of significant public concern”.

Opposition pressure on Mr Shatter to resign continued yesterday, with Mr Martin and Mr Adams saying his position had become untenable. However, the Taoiseach was adamant that he would not be asking Mr Shatter to resign, adding: “The Minister for Justice on behalf of the Government will continue to reform the justice system, will work now to introduce an independent statutory authority for An Garda Síochána that will bring our system into the modern era.”

Interim Garda Commissioner Noirín O’Sullivan last night said she would compile a report on the taping system for Mr Shatter.

She was “taking a strong personal interest in the matter to ensure it was fully addressed”.

Legal sources said if the recorded telephone conversations were taking place on a Garda telephone line between two parties without the knowledge of either, that was in breach of the law. “That would be classed as an interception and there are very set procedures for those, including going to the courts for a warrant,” said one source.