JUSTICE minister Dermot Ahern has been accused of misleading the Dáil over comments he made concerning revelations in the Sunday Tribune that gardaí compromised a highly sensitive intelligence file by sending it to a Dublin photocopying shop.

Ahern has now been called upon to make a full statement on the controversy, as has garda commissioner Fachtna Murphy.

In August, the Sunday Tribune revealed that part of a file detailing the membership of one of the country's most dangerous gangs was compromised when gardaí sent it to Reads Print and Design on Nassau Street.

The file, detailing the hierarchy of murdered crime boss Eamon Dunne's gang, was seen by a person in the shop, who immediately telephoned a gang member to tell him that he featured prominently in it.

The dossier – which was destined for the DPP in the hope of bringing anti-gangland charges against senior criminals – was sent to Reads on the orders of a senior garda, who wanted to make it look as attractive as possible. It was an unusual move, considering there is a garda photocopying centre in Santry.

It is understood that a chart detailing approximately 40 members of the gang, and their position in its hierarchy, was brought to the printing store.

While in the shop, it was seen by a person who recognised some of the names on the list. The individual immediately phoned one of the men who was considered by gardaí as a key member.

Detectives from the crime and security branch, who were monitoring the suspected criminal's phone, overheard the conversation. The caller agreed to keep a copy of the list to pass on to this suspect.

After the conversation, specialist armed gardaí from crime and security and the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation's Organised Crime Unit swooped immediately upon the store. It was shut down for over an hour and gardaí are satisfied that all copies of the intelligence document were destroyed.

In the Dáil on Thursday, Ahern confirmed the incident took place after it was raised by Fine Gael's justice spokesman Alan Shatter. However, Ahern claimed the garda who brought the file to Reads noticed "a member of staff of the premises communicating with a third party and immediately the garda intervened and took the file back".

The Sunday Tribune understands that this was not the case – gardaí only became aware that the intelligence was being compromised because specialist gardaí were monitoring the phone of the criminal contacted by the person in Reads.

Shatter said this was also his understanding of how gardaí became aware of the developing situation. "The minister has the responsibility to tell the truth to the Dáil. He did not tell the truth. The minister's account of the event was incorrect. The garda commissioner needs to make a statement and clarify what happened. Then the minister needs to explain why he was economical with the truth," he told the Sunday Tribune.

Shatter said that comments made on RTÉ's Morning Ireland about the incident by the state broadcaster's crime correspondent Paul Reynolds were playing down a very serious situation for the force. In relation to the incident at the photocopying store, Reynolds stated: "At this stage, the gardaí are satisfied that the integrity of the investigation has not been compromised."

Shatter said it was impossible to see how the revelations to a crime gang of the names of some of those under investigation could not be damaging.

"It's common sense that revelations of a garda file to a known criminal has to undermine a garda investigation. It gives rise to jeopardising the entire garda investigation."