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

In fairness, this will be a positive development. I should not try to speak for other Senators but it is the case that, in the context of the Garda Síochána (Powers) Bill 2026, Senators wanted to see more information available within the criminal justice system so as we can identify information about people who are interacting with the criminal justice system and people who are convicted. The information that will now be generated as a result of adding the Garda and the Courts Service to Schedule 5 to the Social Welfare Consolidation Act will mean that all that information that the Garda and Courts Service have can be shared, for instance, with the Central Statistics Office, and information will become available in respect of individuals who are convicted, and, indeed, prosecuted, of certain criminal offences. That is a positive development. Maybe I am wrong but I think Senators welcome that.
The point here is, "Yes, but we want more." I had referred to the Garda Síochána (Powers) Bill. We have enough on our plate here dealing with the miscellaneous provisions Bill without me going down an avenue talking about the Garda Síochána (Powers) Bill but since Senator McDowell invited me down there, I will go down there briefly. In terms of the Garda Síochána (Powers) Bill, there is information that is recorded when gardaí stop and search a person, but if, after a stop and search, the garda is required to get information about the nationality or religion of an individual, it turns the whole process into something much more complex. However, we will return to that when we come back to the Garda Síochána (Powers) Bill.

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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