Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) (Amendment) Bill 2025: Committee Stage
Seanad Éireann — 2026-06-10
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Lynn Ruane (IND), University of Dublin

Yes, but it is biometric identification. It is not biometric analysis. It is just biometric identification. What if you remove the identification piece, whether it is against a database or a live CCTV system where you are comparing one street with the next one to see where someone is moving and tracking that person to identify them? If you remove the end result of identification, then what is analysis and what is its purpose? It does not have any. It does not exist as its own thing. It only exists with the weight of the end result of identification, which makes a biometric identification.
All we are really asking is not to shut down the conversation on biometric but to have it in the right place and to not leave us open. We are also asking that the Government be transparent about the fears around it and the fact Ireland has this carve-out based on the common travel area and on stuff from the Good Friday Agreement. Ireland is the hub of big tech in Europe, and now we have this carve-out. That is really concerning in terms of what vested interests there are in Ireland being the place where there is a carve-out in how we protect people from the use of biometric analysis and keep that in check. The worst-case scenario is that we have that carve-out in an Ireland that is completely swamped with big tech. Why is that? What if I was to be really paranoid about it? Why do we have that carve-out? In relation to Recital 40, I still do not understand why, due to the common travel area, we have carve-outs in how we define "biometric identification". I plead with the Minister to see the logic that, when you break it down, analysis is identification. We are just asking him to name it for what it is so that we can have the conversation and make sure that the protections are in place for people.

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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