The Minister for Justice has told the GRA he is to bring forward legislation that will allow gardaí to use some results of surveillance on high-profile criminal gang activities as evidence in trials.
Brian Lenihan was speaking at the annual conference of the Garda Representative Association in Carlow.
He told the GRA that the issue is not straightforward. 'On the one hand,' he said, 'the use of such evidence may in some cases help secure convictions; on the other hand we have to avoid as much as possible Garda techniques for intelligence gathering being compromised.'
Mr Lenihan said he had come to the conclusion that we should legislate to allow for the use of such evidence in particular cases, subject to satisfactorily resolving the complex legal issues involved.
He said his Department, in close consultation with the Garda authorities, has begun drafting the heads of a Bill in this area.
Its essential aim would be twofold, he said: to provide a clear statutory basis for certain forms of surveillance and to deal as appropriate with issues arising in relation to the use of the results of surveillance as evidence.
Minister Lenihan gave no other details in his speech.
Debate on carrying arms
Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy will also address the conference this afternoon following a debate on the question of uniformed garda members carrying arms on duty.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio's Today with Pat Kenny, security expert Tom Clonan said the gardaí should have a dedicated firearm unit.
Last night GRA Deputy General Secretary John Healy said he was in favour of gardaí from motorcycle policing units carrying guns as well as other selected officers who are in direct contact with criminal gang elements on a daily basis.
The shooting of uniformed garda Paul Sherlock on his motorbike in Dublin's north inner city last September shocked the GRA's membership of some 11,000 gardaí.
Many members of the force believe their colleagues on motorcycle traffic work are more vulnerable than any other unit because of their ability to get to the scene of an incident and confront criminals without delay.
The GRA will debate the situation as well as its ongoing campaign for pay increases in the presence of Mr Murphy and Mr Lenihan.
Watchdog compromised prosecution - GRA
Earlier, the conference heard claims that a blundering incompetence by the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission compromised a criminal prosecution in the midwest.
Incoming president of the Garda Representative Association Michael O'Boyce said that it supported the establishment of the GSOC, but there was evidence its staff had behaved recklessly.
Mr O'Boyce claimed while GSOC staff carried out a search on the individual lockers of gardaí in Limerick during one investigation, they interfered with evidence assembled as part of a separate inquiry by gardaí in the midwest.
He said the GSOC had a responsibility to act in a professional, efficient, competent and accountable manner to ensure it has the confidence of the public and of the gardaí, but it seemed to him the GSOC has excelled itself in its blundering incompetence.
