Road Traffic and Roads Bill 2021: Committee Stage
Seanad Éireann — 2023-02-01
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Róisín Garvey (GP), Nominated by the Taoiseach

It is an interesting debate and the two ladies are raising some very valid points. I can see both sides of the debate because this is a road traffic Bill and if there are devices we can use to help keep law and order around road traffic, then those devices should be at our disposal. As the Minister has said, facial recognition or AI are not included. In some circumstances, we need to avail of everything we can when there has been a dangerous accident or somebody has broken the law and I can see why all devices would be listed in this. However, this debate has raised an important issue. We need to introduce separate legislation around AI and facial recognition that is completely separate from this Bill. There is a huge piece of work to be done and I would happily work with the Senators on it because I have seen some of the stuff the AI can do and it is quite scary. I can see why in this case of a road traffic Bill, all devices that can be used to implement the rules of the road and the laws around them would be needed in this circumstance. I am trying to mediate here as I can see both sides. There is definitely a valid point on wholly separate legislation that is not part of a road traffic Bill, around AI and facial recognition.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2023-02-01/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:51:31+00:00
Sitting date: 2023-02-01