Garda Síochána (Powers) Bill 2026: Second Stage
Seanad Éireann — 2026-02-04
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Robbie Gallagher (FF), Labour Panel

I welcome the Minister back to the House. We in Fianna Fáil welcome the opportunity to debate this Bill and fully support the objectives behind it.
This legislation represents a significant and necessary step in modernising and consolidating Garda powers, ensuring that they are exercised within a clear, coherent and constitutionally sound statutory framework. It responds directly to recent judgments handed down by the Supreme Court and the Court of Justice of the European Union that highlighted shortcomings in the existing search warrant regime and underscored the need for greater clarity, judicial oversight and procedural safeguards.
The Bill strengthens and future-proofs the law governing search warrants, particularly in relation to electronic devices and digital data. It introduces a tailored search warrant that explicitly authorises the seizure and examination of electronic devices, ensures that judges are empowered to grant the necessary authorisations for accessing physical and digital material, and provides a statutory mechanism for the examination of devices seized without prior judicial approval. Crucially, no electronic device may be examined without appropriate judicial oversight.
In line with the Landeck judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union, the Bill also enhances the rights of individuals to be informed when authorised access is made to data on seized devices.
A central feature of the Bill is the robust protection of privileged material. This is essential to maintaining public confidence and accountability in policing. In addition, the Bill places on a statutory footing the importance of existing rights and practices, including the right of persons in custody to consult a solicitor before and during Garda interviews, the electronic recording of interviews and the modernisation of the custody framework. These measures enhance procedural fairness and reflect contemporary policing standards.
More broadly, the Bill gives effect to the recommendations of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland, which called for the consolidation and codification of powers of search, arrest and detention, supported by statutory codes of practice. By bringing together much of the existing law on police powers into a single accessible framework, the Bill improves clarity, transparency and legal certainty for gardaí and the general public alike.
In the Bill, legal professional privilege is recognised as absolute, while other forms of privilege, including journalistic privilege, are addressed through a structured, judicially supervised process, with provision for High Court determination where necessary. These measures reflect the fundamental importance of privilege to the administration of justice, the legal profession and the protection of press freedom.
The Bill also introduces comprehensive provisions governing Garda stop-and-search powers. These provisions are designed to ensure consistency in how such powers are applied by gardaí and how they are understood by the general public. They include a clear statutory basis for stopping and searching persons or vehicles in public places where there is reasonable suspicion of possession of a relevant article, as defined in the legislation, along with a requirement for gardaí to make a formal record of all searches.
At its core, the Bill is grounded in the principle that human rights are the foundation and the purpose of policing. It recognises that the exercise of Garda powers must be justified by the broader responsibility to protect the rights of others, balancing the rights of those suspected or accused of crime with the right of all members of society to live free from violence, abuse, crime and fear. On behalf of our political grouping, I look forward to this legislation progressing through both Houses.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-02-04/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:35+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-04