Claims that Gsoc member attended Hutch party a ‘very serious matter’, Taoiseach says

Claims that a member of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (Gsoc) was at a party that Gerard Hutch attended on the day he was cleared of murder charges is a “very serious matter”, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said.

Mr Varadkar said the Government and Minister for Justice Simon Harris was taking the matter “very seriously”.

It is understood the Gsoc investigator told a number of people that he had been at a party at a house on Monday evening of last week, which Mr Hutch attended just hours after he walked free from the Special Criminal Court.

The claim was subsequently reported to senior management at Gsoc and the officer has since resigned.

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Speaking in the Dáil on Tuesday, Labour leader Ivana Bacik described the allegations as “very disturbing revelations”.

Ms Bacik said there should be an independent investigation into the matter, independent both of Gsoc and the gardaí.

[ ‘My gang is bigger than their gang’: Harris pledges to pursue organised crime after Regency trial ]

The Dublin Bay South TD said such an investigation could be led by a senior counsel or retired judge and also modelled on the Sean Guerin inquiry.

She said the investigation had to be “swift” and “focused” while there could be other issues around Garda collusion with organised crime.

“It is such a serious matter and has the potential to undermine to such a great degree public confidence in policing and in our policing apparatus that I think it warrants that level of investigation,” she said.

“We’re concerned that this is not just an isolated incident and that there may be other issues around Garda collusion with organised crime.”

In response, Mr Varadkar said there was already a Garda investigation under way which was “the appropriate investigation” in his view.

“This is potentially a criminal matter. Only gardaí can carry out investigations into criminal matters, senior counsel can’t do that,” he said.