Criminal Law, Civil Law and Defence (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026: Instruction to Committee
Seanad Éireann — 2026-07-02
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Jim O'Callaghan (FF), Dublin Bay South

I welcome the opportunity to discuss certain Government amendments to the Bill, which I have submitted ahead of Report Stage this afternoon. I look forward to hearing from Members. I am going to be brief in my opening remarks and talk about the substantive amendments.
The first substantive amendment is to amend the Misuse of Drugs Act 1984 to provide a statutory basis for the admissibility in proceedings of certificate evidence of the results of applicable drug tests carried out by Garda members. Gardaí have for many years been conducting presumptive drug testing on cannabis and cocaine. These tests are highly accurate. However, some District Courts accept them and others do not because of the absence of a statutory basis. What I am seeking to do here is to give them a statutory basis.
The next such amendment is to repeal section 14 of the sex offences Act 2024. That is the one that deals with character evidence. If you want to give a character reference or evidence in respect of somebody convicted of a sexual offence, you have to do it on oath or by affidavit. I am changing that so that it applies not just to sex offences but also to every indictable offence of which a person is convicted.
The next amendment is to insert a new Part providing a basis in criminal proceedings for the electronic transmission of documents and for electronic statements of truth. These amendments are modelled on equivalent provisions in civil proceedings in the miscellaneous provisions Act of 2020. It will be possible for such documents to be electronically generated and transmitted between the courts, which will make the system much more efficient. There are also a number of amendments consequential on the amendments I have just outlined. For instance, there are proposed amendments to the Criminal Justice (Perjury and Related Offences) Act 2021.
The final set of amendments, making up about two thirds of the pages of the Report Stage amendments, concern the new Part of the Bill in relation to passenger name record, PNR, data. That is the booking information provided by passengers and collected by airlines for commercial purposes. The collection and analysis of such data comprise a vital tool in investigating serious crime and preventing terrorism. It is used to identify suspects and dismantle networks involved in terrorism and drug trafficking.
In the EU, the use of PNR data for law enforcement is regulated through a directive that was transposed into Irish law by a regulation of 2018. The PNR directive automatically applies to extra-EU flights, that is, flights between EU and non-EU states. Logically too, the directive allows that it can also apply to flights within the EU. However, further legislation is required in Ireland to give effect to this, and Ireland is the only EU member state bound by the directive that does not apply it to intra-EU flights. That is the purpose of it.
It had originally been intended to bring the bulk of these provisions into effect by amending the 2018 regulations. However, the Attorney General advised that, in extending Ireland's PNR regime to intra-EU flights, the entire PNR regime should be put on a primary law footing. That is beneficial. This necessitated the inclusion of more extensive and consequential provisions.
The extension of Ireland's PNR regime has been specifically sought by the Garda Commissioner as a matter of urgency. By removing blind spots in our travel intelligence that can be exploited by criminals and others, these provisions will address a significant gap in Ireland's security architecture. I commend the motion to the House.

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Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:09+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-02