Civil liberties group calls for oversight of national security in wake of Harris appointment

Mr Harris will be responsible for sensitive matters as well as routine policing and his appointment has drawn criticism because of his close links with British intelligence while in the PSNI.

ICCL director Liam Herrick called for independent oversight to be brought in.

“ICCL believes that one of the key challenges will be to put in place effective independent oversight processes to monitor national security policing,” said Mr Herrick.

“We have grave concerns that in the Republic there is no publicly available information on State security operations, and oversight bodies such as Gsoc are not mandated to inspect those processes.”

While the Garda is answerable to bodies including the Policing Authority, the Garda Ombudsman and the Oireachtas’ Justice Committee, they have no jurisdiction regarding national security matters.

Ireland’s only oversight provision for state security is a single judge who signs surveillance warrants and publishes annual reports.