The Garda Ombudsman has said it will not investigate allegations made by two former gardaí who say they witnessed the unauthorised bugging of witnesses’ homes and at other sites as far back as 1992, RTÉ's This Week has learned.
In written correspondence seen by RTÉ, GSOC said it recognised that the two retired officers had made what amounted to "serious allegations" of criminality against members of the force, up to and including senior gardaí.
However, the ombudsman said that having carefully considered a dossier of information submitted by the men's solicitor, it believed their complaint was inadmissible "given the passage of time".
Garda Commissioner Nóirín O'Sullivan had forwarded the men's claims to GSOC last year, after they wrote to both the commissioner and the Fennelly Commission, which is also inquiring into the widespread recording of phone calls at garda stations.
The two men, one of whom is a former garda and the other a former sergeant, were based in Cork, where they claim they encountered the alleged bugging while investigating a murder case.
They claim that in the course of investigating a murder case, a woman's home was covertly bugged in order to listen to conversations she had with her father, who was a suspect in the crime.
Another listening device was later placed in a garda station without approval, in order to listen to a conversation between the suspect and a visitor, according to the allegation.
The former sergeant says he saw senior gardaí testing the quality of the recording in a sound test.
He also said he witnessed audio files being collated by an unidentified garda sitting in a van.
Mr Justice Nial Fennelly informed the men that under the inquiry's terms of reference, the commission could not consider any allegations which do not specifically relate to the taping of phones at garda stations.
Both men unsuccessfully tried to have their concerns investigated by the Morris Tribunal in 2007 but Mr Justice Frederick Morris decided that they should not be called to give evidence as the judge said their allegations were not relevant to the inquiry, focused on Donegal.
The first retired garda, known to the Morris Tribunal as JMG, was involved in the murder inquiry.
He claimed that a now deceased garda superintendent had told him that a female third party related to the suspect had been bugged without any official authorisation, in a bid to glean information on the suspect.
The retired sergeant, known to the Morris Tribunal as TM, was also involved in the same murder investigation.
He also told the Morris inquiry that he was aware of the bugging.
He said that this occurred both in the house of the third party and also in an interview room of a station where the suspect was briefly taken into custody in late 1992.
Both men made official complaints in 2001, some years after the alleged unauthorised bugging.
An internal inquiry was launched by then garda commissioner Pat Byrne which was completed in 2003.
That inquiry concluded with no adverse findings made against any members of the force.
Both men were understood to have believed that the internal inquiry was inadequate.
The GSOC senior case officer acknowledged in the letter that the decision "may be a source of disappointment" for the former gardaí.
