Gardaí continue investigation into viewing of child abuse images after no evidence found on …

The man accused of viewing the child abuse material online has not been arrested. He works for a TD, who is not accused of any wrongdoing and is not being identified for legal reasons.

While nothing of evidential value was found on any of the accused man's devices, including the laptop issued by the Houses of the Oireachtas, other lines of inquiry are still to be concluded, it is understood.

“This matter is still subject to investigation,” a Garda spokesperson said.

Both the TD and their political party have repeatedly refused to answer questions on whether the man had been suspended or been subject to any disciplinary proceedings.

An Garda Síochána said in a previous statement last September: “Gardaí in the north-west are currently investigating allegations made against a male from the area relating to the viewing of child abuse material online contrary to the provisions of Child Trafficking and Pornography Act, 1998.”

The seizure of the laptop for examination by gardaí could only take place after a series of unprecedented steps were taken to secure permission to waive parliamentary privilege that applies to politicians' documents and their devices.

The TD, who is the man's employer, and two little-known Oireachtas committees were required to waive parliamentary privilege, which applies to all documents belonging to members of the Oireachtas, in order to allow gardaí to gain access to the laptop and its contents using an Oireachtas-issued digital access key.

The Dáil Committee on Parliamentary Privileges and Oversight (CPPO) signed off on the “request for official documents” at a short meeting on September 27 – the night of the Budget.

The equivalent Seanad committee met briefly the following day to sign off on the same request.

Members of both committees were given a verbal briefing on the request from An Garda Síochána by the Office of the Parliamentary Legal Adviser and were told it was a “serious indictable offence”.

However, neither of the two committees was informed of the nature of the alleged offence, nor the names of any of those involved, including the TD the man works for or their party affiliation.

Both committees consented to providing the access key to gardaí with two conditions: that the information could only be used for the purposes stated by gardaí in making their request, and that a court order be provided to underpin their request to access the documents.

A spokesperson for the Houses of the Oireachtas said in September: “We are not in a position to comment on the confidential proceedings of the CPPO of either house.”