In a shake-up, the army could be the loser, after revelations about its Force Research Unit, writes Dan Keenan.
The Scappaticci affair raises again the efficacy of the convoluted intelligence architecture in the North throughout the "dirty war".
Anti-terrorist intelligence activity is shared by Special Branch, the British army and the British secret service, MI5.
Evidence has long been accumulating against some intelligence bodies and further findings have been made against them by the Stevens inquiry.
Mr Dan Crompton of Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary, the police watchdog in England and Wales; Police Ombudsman Mrs Nuala O'Loan; international lawyers groups and human rights bodies continue to call for the overhaul of intelligence organisations and their operations.
Demands for sweeping reform are spurred by evidence, confirmed by Sir John Stevens, that these agencies have become obsessed with gathering intelligence for its own sake and have failed to involve detectives in Crime Branch.
The Omagh bombing and the killing of Roseanne Mallon (76) in 1994 in particular raise issues concerning Special Branch reluctance to pass on information. The murder of Pat Finucane and the Scappaticci affair highlight the role played by the British army's Force Research Unit (FRU). As a result, the demand for a revamped intelligence operation has grown and work has begun.
But in any shake-up, it seems the real losers will be the army, especially following the revelations about the FRU. This will leave the field to the PSNI, whose own intelligence wing, Special Branch, is being restructured, and MI5. A private briefing given by the secret service to the Policing Board nearly 12 months ago indicated MI5 did not want the Northern Ireland brief.
The Patten report on the future of policing advanced the call for Special Branch to be downsized and made an integral, open and transparent element alongside Crime Branch or CID.
Recommendations drawn up by Mr Crompton and by Mr Stevens for Special Branch amount to a total overhaul and will begin shortly. The Policing Board is keen for this to happen, as is the policing Oversight Commissioner, Mr Tom Constantine.
Sinn Féin remains critical of the new policing arrangements and continues to refuse its seats on the Policing Board. According to Mr Gerry Kelly: "Special Branch are the people who developed the RUC into a force whose prime motivation was the maintenance of the Northern statelet as a cold house for Catholics in general and republicans in particular. They are still there." His allegations about intelligence agencies treatment of Mr Scappaticci seem to indicate a hardening of the republican position. This week he claimed the intelligence bodies were involved in the murder of Mr Finucane, "ran" the UDA mole Brian Nelson, and stood by while paramilitaries were directed towards innocent targets.
Sir John Chilcott, staff counsellor for the British Security and Intelligence Services, is investigating the Castlereagh Special Branch office robbery to recommend reform of the intelligence machine in the North. Until he reports, Special Branch primacy in the intelligence field is far from guaranteed.