Garda Síochána (Powers) Bill 2026: Committee Stage (Resumed)
Seanad Éireann — 2026-06-10
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Catherine Ardagh (FF), Dublin South-Central

I thank the Senator. I do recall the coverage at the time in relation to that incident. I think it was a Muslim lady who was involved.
While I understand the concerns reflected in this amendment, sections 9 and 10 already establish a robust statutory threshold of reasonable grounds for suspicion. This threshold precludes treating personal traits like age, race or clothing style as independently constituting reasonable grounds, as such reliance would be discriminatory and unconstitutional. The amendment also poses operational risks. While a person's age or vehicle type can never be the sole basis for a search, there are scenarios where these factors must form part of an assessment, for example, if a Garda is searching for a specific stolen vehicle or seeking an abducted child matching a precise age profile. This amendment could restrict members from using these specific identifying factors to establish grounds. I cannot support the amendment.
I will also speak to amendment No. 20, unless the Senator would like to come back in.

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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