Tánaiste Simon Harris says An Garda Síochána has questions to answer about how a civilian member of the force’s National Cyber Crime Bureau, who allegedly made online threats against him, ended up working for the organisation.
Mr Harris said it was “very concerning” that any civilian member of the Garda would be suspended from duties as a result of such behaviour.
The Fine Gael leader was speaking after the Irish Mail on Sunday reported that a member of the bureau had been suspended after making online threats against him.
When questioned about the matter on Monday, Mr Harris said he had read the report and was “not really sure what to say in relation to this”.
READ MORE
“I don’t view such matters as HR matters, I view them as criminal matters,” he said.
“Of course it’s extremely important that all of these issues are robustly investigated. The safety of anybody in public life and their families is obviously important. The safety of everybody in our country is important, but so too is making sure that there’s robust processes in place and in An Garda Síochána to ensure that all appropriate vetting is in place too.”
Mr Harris added there was “a lot” which needed to emerge in relation to the issue and there were questions that “no doubt the gardaí would be eager to answer as to how such a person ever ended up working in An Garda Síochána” and what actions it intended to take in response.
Asked about the matter, An Garda Síochána said it was “currently assessing the nature of and content of online activity by an identified person” which has been brought to its attention.
“As this assessment is ongoing An Garda Síochána cannot make any further comment. A member of Garda staff in the Dublin Region has been suspended from work,” the force said in a statement.
Separately, the Tánaiste said the Government remains committed to passing the Occupied Territories Bill, which aims to ban trade between Ireland and illegal Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories.
He said Helen McEntee, the new Minister for Foreign Affairs, would be meeting Government party leaders in relation to the legislation “shortly”. He said it was important that everybody in the country, including those “on the far left”, realise that “Hamas have obligations”.
“Hamas is a brutal, illegal terrorist organisation that must be disarmed as part of a peace process as well,” he said.
“The Irish Government intends to proceed with the legislation as per the programme for Government. But this is just one of a number of things we need to do and the most practical thing we can be doing to help the people of Gaza now, who’ve been suffering a famine and a genocide, is to help get food and aid into them.”
Ms McEntee last week told the Dáil that there remains “considerable legal uncertainty” as to whether including services in the Bill is permissible under EU law. She said “legal clarity is needed on this point” and the Government was awaiting advice from the Attorney General.
The Minister said the Government had always been clear that enacting the legislation in terms of services is “more complex”.
