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. 4:
In page 8, between lines 12 and 13, to insert the following:
"Prohibition on procurement or use of certain technologies
43DA. (1) An Garda Síochána, the Minister, or any public body acting on their behalf shall not procure, license, contract for, deploy, or otherwise make operational use of any biometric analysis technology, surveillance technology, software, hardware, dataset, or related service supplied by—
(a) a company incorporated, headquartered, or substantially operating in a state engaged in war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide,
(b) a subsidiary, affiliate, or parent undertaking of such a company, or
(c) any entity that develops, trains, sources, or operates biometric or surveillance systems using data, infrastructure, or technology originating a state engaged in war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide.
(2) For the purposes of this section, 'surveillance technology' includes any system capable of biometric analysis, facial recognition, behavioural categorisation, pattern of life analysis, or the processing of biometric data within the meaning of the Data Protection Act 2018.
(3) Any existing contract, memorandum of understanding, or procurement arrangement that contravenes subsection (1) shall not be renewed, extended, or varied, and shall be terminated at the earliest date permissible under contract law.
(4) Nothing in this section shall prevent the Minister from authorising the temporary retention of data or equipment solely for the purpose of evidential preservation, forensic examination, or legal compliance, provided that no further operational use is made of such technology.
(5) No biometric data collected, processed, or retained under this Act shall be transferred to, processed by, or stored on any server, cloud service, or technological infrastructure—
(a) located in a state engaged in war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide.
(b) controlled by an entity referred to in subsection (1), or
(c) operated using software, firmware, or backend systems originating in a state engaged in war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide.".

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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