Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Bill 2022: Committee Stage
Seanad Éireann — 2023-10-24
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Helen McEntee (FG), Meath East

This is very much in line with the discussion we have just had regarding when and where a member of An Garda Síochána can turn on or off the devices. This will be clearly set out in the code of practice. Obviously, if members veer off the code of practice and turn a camera off when they should not or do not turn it on when they clearly should, they are open to disciplinary proceedings. That said, we need to take into account the circumstances in which an incident arises. There might, for example, be a physical assault that happens in a split second which does not allow a garda to turn on the device, even though he or she might like to. All of these issues have to be taken into account in the code of practice and it is not for us to outline such matters in this legislation. Gardaí need to be able to respond as quickly as possible but at the same time, to the Senator's earlier point, we need to make sure there is not any abuse of this particular piece of technology. It is a very important piece of technology that gardaí will have and we cannot allow it to be abused in any way. That is why the code of practice will be extremely important

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2023-10-24/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:52:19+00:00
Sitting date: 2023-10-24