Garda Síochána (Powers) Bill 2026: Report and Final Stages
Seanad Éireann — 2026-06-17
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Jim O'Callaghan (FF), Dublin Bay South

I thank Senator Andrews for his amendment. I think this was also discussed on Committee Stage. The proposed insertion of section 21 on which this amendment relies is not necessary as the Bill already provides appropriate safeguards in relation to journalistic privilege. As I mentioned earlier, the application for a search warrant to the District Court requires members of the Garda to notify the court of any issues related to privilege as is known to them. This ensures that if there are concerns regarding privilege the Garda must bring them to the judge's attention and this allows the judge to make informed decisions and draw appropriate inferences about the potential privileged material without placing the entire responsibility on the Garda. There is an application in the District Court and the district judge has to be satisfied with the application. If the Garda are aware that there may be privileged material involved in the search, that must be brought to the attention of the district judge. It is a matter then for the district judge to strike a balance between safeguarding privilege and ensuring that the judicial process can move forward. For that reason I cannot accept the amendment. As I said earlier, I believe that the provisions contained within this are sufficient to respond to the concerns that were highlighted by the Supreme Court in the case of Corcoran, and which I am giving effect to in this statutory provision.
Senator Andrews has also moved forward amendment No. 8. Are we discussing this also?

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-06-17/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:04+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-06-17