Criminal Law, Civil Law and Defence (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026: Report and Final Stages
Seanad Éireann — 2026-07-02
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Alice-Mary Higgins (IND), National University of Ireland

The indictable offences issue is constructive. It was good to see the accepting of amendments from the Opposition in that regard. I acknowledge that the Minister has engaged constructively with the Opposition in relation to proposals in both Houses in the past. However, it is not the case that these new proposals in respect of face coverings are only in situations where face coverings are worn for the purpose of intimidation. That is not what the legislation states. The legislation states "with intent to intimidate another person", or "in a manner that is likely to intimidate another person". There is no proof of intent in relation to this. There is simply the interpretation that a member of An Garda Síochána may make that a person wearing a face covering is something that could intimidate a person. That is the standard.
To be very clear, gardaí already have significant powers under the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994 to address threatening, intimidating or violent behaviour, as they should. I know there have been instances where intimidating behaviour should have been dealt with earlier in some cases. I can point to examples. They already have powers. If intimidation is taking place, if there is intimidating or violent behaviour or there are threats, the powers are already there for prosecution under the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act. What has been added here is a new offence of not removing a face mask when a garda tells a person to remove it because they believe it could intimidate another person.
It does not even have to intimidate a person; it just has to be considered likely to intimidate a person. That is the standard that is there. This comes in the context of wide powers in respect of facial recognition being introduced for biometric analysis, which we have discussed, and separate from the biometric identification which will only be in the case of the named individuals, of course. That is not, of course, what the EU directive says, but what the Minister has decided to narrow biometric identification to. In terms of biometric analysis, there will be the use, tracking and identification of individuals as the same individual from camera to camera. That is what we have discussed at length previously. It is happening in that context and there is not a proper recognition.
I am holding aloft one of my masks. I wore this mask for two years and took part in protests.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-07-02/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:09+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-02