Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) (Amendment) Bill 2025: Committee Stage Seanad Éireann — 2026-06-10 ============================================================ Joanne Collins (SF), Agricultural Panel I will, and I thank the Minister for being here today. Banning the use of technology from states engaged in war crimes and genocide should not even be up for debate. It should just be a given. We know that An Garda Síochána has, and is probably still using, Israeli surveillance technology. Given Israel's record, this is highly problematic from a national security perspective and because it is supporting a genocidal regime that uses this very technology to target Palestinians. We know that in 2023 An Garda Síochána paid €278,000 to Cognyte, an Israeli surveillance technology company. Cognyte's main product is an investigations analytics platform that uses AI, facial recognition and data aggregation to analyse communications, CCTV, social media and more. The company has a controversial history. Its tools have been used in Indonesia to monitor LGBT and religious minorities, and in Myanmar and South Sudan for mass interception. A Brazilian investigation alleges that a Cognyte system was used under Jair Bolsonaro to track political opponents. Can the Minister guarantee this company will not be used for the provisions in the Bill we are discussing here today? We also know that An Garda Síochána has paid hundreds of thousands of euro to an Israeli cyberdefence company that has worked with Israeli authorities to target Palestinians during the current genocide in Palestine. That company, Cellebrite, has deep links to Israel's military and intelligence apparatus and has previously been criticised by rights groups for selling its technology to prospective governments. This company has been used by Israel during the current genocide in Gaza to target Palestinians. In 2021 alone, the Garda spent over €200,000 on Cellebrite services. While it is important the Garda has access to technology, including decryption technology required to detect and prosecute serious crimes, alternatives must be found to using companies from states engaged in war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. I do not believe this will be done without enshrining it in law, given the experience to date,. In 2024, the Government banned future purchases of military equipment from Israel due to the actions of the Israeli Government in Gaza. However, this ban did not apply to An Garda Síochána. Acceptance of these amendments would be consistent with the position the Government has taken regarding the purchase of military equipment. It would also be important from a national security perspective, as it makes absolutely no sense to procure this kind of technology from a state that has been hostile to Ireland for standing up against the genocide in Gaza. --- 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