The Tánaiste has said he is 'amazed' at the 'herd like' reaction to allegations that a member of the Oireachtas had been recruited as a Russian spy.
A report in The Sunday Times claimed that a member had been recruited and was nicknamed 'Cobalt'.
It claimed a Russian spy was in charge of the intelligence operation that recruited the politician, who operates "as an agent of influence inside parliament."
The alarm was raised after Cobalt and the Russian spy met outside Dublin, the paper says.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin told the Dáil he has never received a security briefing around any potential spy.
"When I was Taoiseach... I received security briefings but I was never told and never briefed that there was a spy in the Oireachtas," he said
"[That] is what the article in The Sunday Times asserts.
"I'm actually very surprised at the degree to which everybody - herd like - have just grabbed on to the story and said, 'This is it - who is the person?'
"I'm absolutely amazed".
'I was never told there was a spy in the Oireachtas'
Tánaiste Micheál Martin says he is 'surprised' by the reaction to reported Russian spy pic.twitter.com/z3nIHKp27S— NewstalkFM (@NewstalkFM) October 10, 2024
Minister Martin said there are questions around how the information - if true - came into the public domain.
"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," he said.
"There may be, there may not be but I've never been briefed.
"There's an issue of accountability in terms of our intelligence services because if this is true then someone gave that information out.
"I don't think that's acceptable, actually."
Minister Martin said there need to be an 'accountability chain' around intelligence services.
"I think there's a broader issue that future governments and the Oireachtas at-large need to be very clear eyed about the need in a democracy that intelligence services have an accountability chain and are accountable," he said.
"I would argue we lack at the moment," he added.
'A serious point to it'
Several Senators used their speaking time in the Seanad yesterday to declare they are not a Russian spy.
Fianna Fáil Senator Timmy Dooley told Newstalk Breakfast he wanted to highlight the issue.
"Yesterday's intervention was somewhat tongue-in-cheek I suppose but there is a serious point to it," he said.
"We regularly hear of the interference of the Russian Federation in elections, we know the kind of activities that it engages in during the course of elections in many countries - including the United States.
"I just reflected that it was important that we highlight this issue a little bit more than it had been highlighted.
"I think we probably succeeded in that".
'Confirm or deny'
Senator Dooley said he believes the person in question should come forward "if there's nothing nefarious in it."
"I can understand [that] from time to time a politician responds to an invitation to meet with a delegation or a business interest or engages in conversations with others as part of their normal duties," he said.
Senator Dooley said that Ireland is moving forward in its own election process.
"In the throws of the first phases of an election here, I think if there is somebody that has been influenced in some way by the Russian Federation - or has some ties to the Russian Federation - I think it would be important that the general public would know that in advance," he said.
"Let the individual concerned either confirm or deny or outline the extent to which their activities were engaged in or were undertaken."
Senator Dooley added that there may also be "a very benign explanation and if there is let's hear it".
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