Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) (Amendment) Bill 2025: Report and Final Stages
Dail Éireann — 2026-05-13
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Matt Carthy (SF), Cavan-Monaghan

I move amendment No. 3:
In page 8, between lines 12 and 13, to insert the following:
“Processing and storage of data
43DA. Biometric data processed under this Act shall—
(a) be retained only for the minimum period strictly necessary,
(b) be stored and processed exclusively on servers located within the European Union,
(c) not be accessible to private contractors, and
(d) be deleted immediately once no longer required for the purpose for which it was collected.”.
This amendment is about ensuring that there can be full public confidence. I think there is broad recognition that this type of technology will become an important and useful mechanism to An Garda in its work of tackling serious crime, dealing with security matters and particularly, hopefully, in respect of missing person cases. I will state again, however, that the public will want to be assured that there are safeguards in terms of how and when this technology will be used. This amendment seeks to ensure that we have full protection in terms of where the data is processed and stored and to ensure that such data is only stored for the necessary period. As we permit the use of this kind of technology in assisting gardaí to do their job of detecting crime and catching criminals, we also need to ensure there are safeguards in terms of what is being processed and for how long it is being held. That is what this amendment simply does. I believe it is important because without this type of amendment there is going to be some public concern about the deployment of this type of technology. This amendment is a way of negating that in a way that does not disrupt the intention of the Bill.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-05-13/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:03+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-13