Recently I read the following on DigitalRights.ie the blog of the civil liberties group Digital Rights Ireland.

Justice Minister Michael McDowell recently refused to reveal the number of phones taps he has authorised during his time in office.

In Britain, the statistics on phone tapping are revealed annually by an eavesdropping watchdog, the Interception of Communications Commissioner.

The civil liberties group Digital Rights Ireland said that Mr McDowell’s reason for withholding the information was unacceptable.

“It’s been perfectly possible to do this in England in detail with no threat to the public interest or national security. So that justification just doesn’t hold water,” said chairman TJ McIntyre.

There was a designated judge who issued a report on the phone tapping each year, he said. “It’s literally a one line report in which he says he has reviewed the system, with no details and no indication of mistakes made or steps taken to correct them.”

There is also a complaints referee, Circuit Court Judge Carroll Moran, who people can contact.

“But the Department of Justice haven’t explained how people find out if their phone is being tapped. It makes a mockery of the whole system,” Mr McIntyre said.