Has Alan Shatter used access to personal files to smear rivals?

Justice Minister Alan Shatter and Mick Wallace were on Prime Time last night to talk about the penalty points report and the appearance of Commissioner Martin Callinan at a Public Accounts Committee meeting earlier that day.

During the chat, Mr Shatter accused Mr Wallace of having been stopped by the Gardaí last May.

He said – with the authority of someone who may have actually seen a file on the subject – that Mr Wallace was on his phone while driving.

Now apart from him putting a rivals personal record in the public domain, is it not wrong for the minister to know specific cases? Is this a breach of data protection? and what sort of access has the minister to citizens personal information?

How Did He Know? | Broadsheet.ie