Micheál Martin, the Taánaiste and Minister of Defence, has stated that he has never been given a security briefing “claiming there is a spy in the Oireachtas,” reports RTE.
There has been conjecture over the identity of an Oireachtas member who was allegedly recruited as a Russian spy, after a piece published in The Sunday Times.
“There may be – there may not be” a spy, Mr. Martin said the Dáil, adding, “I don’t know who the individual is,” reports RTE.
In addition, he voiced his worries about “how all of this has emerged in the public arena,” referring to the way the material was made public.
Mr. Martin had just finished stating that he want to make a significant observation and comment on the subject, reports RTE.
“But I was never told and never briefed that there was a spy in the Oireachtas,” he added, adding that he was briefed on security matters while serving as Taoiseach throughout the relevant period.
Responding to Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín, Mr Martin said: “I’m actually very surprised at the degree to which everybody – herd-like – just grabbed on the story and said, ‘This is it. Who is the person?’ I’m absolutely amazed. There’s a more fundamental question to be asked, which I’m going to ask as Minister of Defence. Because as Minister of Defence, I’ve never received a security briefing saying there’s a spy in the Oireachtas. There may be – there may not be. There’s an issue of accountability in terms of our intelligence services. If this is true, then someone gave that information. And I don’t think that’s acceptable actually. I don’t,” reports RTE.
The next administrations “need to be very clear-eyed about the need in a democracy that intelligence services have an accountability chain, and are accountable” , according to him.
No one should be surprised by Russian activities in Ireland, Taoiseach Simon Harris stated earlier this week.
According to The Sunday Times, Russian intelligence allegedly recruited an Irish lawmaker as an agent during Brexit discussions using a “honeytrap” in an effort to sabotage ties between the UK, Ireland, and the EU, reports RTE.
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