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

I thank the Senator for his contribution. I take on board his comment that there are a lot of amendments in respect of the passenger name record data. I will make two points in my defence. First, many of the provisions being put forward on Report Stage simply replicate what is in the 2018 regulations. Passenger name records are not something new to Irish law. Provision for them has been in secondary legislation since 2018, applying as it does to extra-EU flights. I listened to the concerns expressed by Senators McDowell and Higgins about these provisions being introduced on Report Stage. However, this is not something that is desperately new. It has been there for the past eight years.
Second, it is preferable if rules relating to passenger name records are in primary legislation, as opposed to the secondary legislation - the statutory instrument - that has existed to date. Back in 2018 when the regulations were introduced, there was no debate in any House of the Oireachtas about it; it was just signed by the Minister of the day, so there is a benefit in having it in primary legislation. There has been some Oireachtas debate in respect of it, in contrast to it being by way of secondary legislation.
Senator McDowell asked questions in respect of the person who is being charged with an offence in Northern Ireland. This information was revealed at the time. The person had flown from Luxembourg or France – I think it was Luxembourg – on an internal EU flight from Luxembourg to Dublin where the person claimed asylum and the next day went to Northern Ireland and claimed asylum there. Senator McDowell raises this issue because he wonders, if after this legislation comes in and it applies to internal EU flights, we will then have a record of the data in respect of individuals such as the person who was highlighted in his example. The short answer is we will have the data but it will not be accessible because, as he will know in respect of passenger name record data, that can only be used for offences where people are on a watch list and – in respect of serious offences – where a penalty could potentially imposed of up to three years or more. In the situation that arose, unless the person had been on a watch list and had previously committed a serious offence, then the information on the person would not be readily available. The information in passenger name record data cannot be used for the purpose of immigration offences. If an individual comes into Ireland and we have the PNR data - if they come in on an internal flight we will get that information in respect of the commission of serious offences, that is, if the person is on a watch list for serious offences - the data, however, will not be a tool that can be used for the purpose of identifying violations of our immigration laws because they do not meet the threshold of seriousness in terms of the penalty imposed to get them onto the PNR system.

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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