Irish police ombudsman's offices bugged

The office of the Irish police ombudsman has said it regrets not informing the minister of justice that its office had been bugged.

The ombudsman (GSOC) chairman said three "credible security threats" had been identified, after a British company was brought in to investigate.

Simon O'Brien said the discovery was made after a security sweep was carried out between 23 and 27 September 2013.

He said it was a "very difficult decision not to report the matter".

The GSOC chairman said the office "did not want to point the finger at anyone or undermine public confidence in the ombudsman".

An investigation following the security sweep confirmed the presence of three technical and electronic anomalies in the ombudsman commission offices.

"These could not be conclusively explained and raised concerns among the investigation team in terms of the integrity of GSOC's communications security," the office said in a statement.

It added that it satisfied that its databases were not compromised.