Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) (Amendment) Bill 2025: Committee Stage Seanad Éireann — 2026-06-10 ============================================================ Victor Boyhan (IND), Agricultural Panel I welcome the Minister to the House. The code of practice, as the Minister is familiar with, is peppered right through this Bill, but I saw an opportunity in the amendment that has not been moved, and in section 3 where there are many references to the code of practice, so it is appropriate to bring it up at this point. As I said the last time the Minister was here in relation to this Bill, I support the Bill, but it is important to get some clarity on a number of issues. What was particularly interesting, and I drew the Minister's attention to it, was that An Garda Síochána made a detailed submission, as did the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, ICCL, the Law Society, Safeguarding Ireland and the Rape Crisis Network of Ireland. I referenced these during my previous contribution on this Bill. There were recurring themes in those submissions that warranted further examination. I know that the Minster subsequently looked at this Bill and that he became the Minister after the pre-legislative scrutiny was done on this and many adjustments were made. Most of what is encapsulated in my queries relates to the Data Protection Commission's commentary on the Bill. Interestingly, the Data Protection Commission, DPC, had several points in its submission under the code of practice heading. It noted the centrality of the code, the lawfulness of processing personal data and the purpose of biometric identification in this Bill under the general scheme. The DPC made the point that the code of practice was important. We are effectively signing up to a Bill where we do not know what the code of practice is, but to be fair to the DPC, it pointed out that it was significant and that the Minister and the Department needed time to work out the details about the code of practice. The DPC stated that the code would need to ensure a clear articulation of the legal basis of processing and reflecting on the statutory footing under the principal Act, and that the circumstances under which An Garda Síochána is allowed to deploy facial recognition technology, FRT, are clear to the public and provide sufficient clarity and legal certainty to prevent the arbitrary use of these technologies. The DPC stated that the lawfulness of the data processing was dependent upon the code contributing to the clarity and foreseeability of the end-to-end effect of the data processing operations, and any room for deviation from standard operating procedures would possibly undermine this. The DPC talked about the effective internal oversight mechanisms governing the deployment of FRT and the identification and definition of the roles and responsibilities of the relevant authorised officers. All of that will be critical in building confidence around the code. The code is very important and significant. The Minister spoke about it at some length the last time we were here. Clear descriptions relating to the safeguards need to be put in place for the protection of the fundamental rights of individuals, including but not limited to measures to ensure the integrity and confidentiality of the personal data collected and to underline the processing of the staff training and technologies. I know that the Minister is committed to all of this, but I want to put on the record that, having engaged with these four submissions, they raise reasonable, fair and well-articulated concerns. The DPC went on to say that, given the scale and complexity of the issues in the Bill, it was important that the code of practice would not be regarded as a mere afterthought or formality and that the process of creating the code would not be rushed. To be fair, the DPC is not criticising the Minister. It is just saying that we do not need to rush it. However, we do not want to leave it too long either. I know that the Minister is committed to getting this legislation up, running and enacted, which is important, but in fairness, the DPC says that it is important that it not be rushed. I ask the Minister to confirm that the code of practice will be laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas when it is prepared. That is an important imperative in terms of oversight by both Houses of the Oireachtas. I am going to finish by saying that I support the Bill. The code of practice is fundamental. It is a complex thing. No doubt, it will be moved, shaped, amended and improved. When this Bill is reviewed at some time in the future, there will be lessons learned or new thoughts will come about regarding things that we, the legislators, did not envisage. These submissions are important. I acknowledge the Data Protection Commission, which is committed to keeping an eye on all of this, given its statutory obligation to do so; An Garda Síochána and the then Garda Commissioner, Drew Harris, who made a very detailed submission; the Law Society, the ICCL, Safeguarding Ireland and the Rape Crisis Network of Ireland. They all made very comprehensive and well-thought-out submissions. They came to this legislation with a positive view of strengthening it, not knocking it, and raised their legitimate concerns for the organisations and people they represent. At the end of the day, this is about a just system that protects everyone proportionately. That is important, too, but there are a lot of sinister and dangerous people in our society and, therefore, all mechanisms of technology and innovation have to be put to the fore as instruments in tackling crime, as well as making our places safer for all. On that point, I wish the Minister well. The issue of the code of practice is really important. Will he give us some feedback in terms of whether the code will come back before the Houses of the Oireachtas? --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-06-10/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:02+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-06-10