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. 6:
In page 9, between lines 36 and 37, to insert the following:
“10. The Minister shall ensure that no national deployment of biometric categorisation technologies shall occur until a pilot programme has been completed and independently evaluated, including assessments of—
(a) accuracy and error rates,
(b) discriminatory impacts,
(c) compliance with data protection law, and
(d) impacts on privacy and fundamental rights,
and the evaluation shall be laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas.”.
The amendment follows on from the roll-out of other technology used by gardaí, including body cameras. It would be eminently sensible that, prior to the full deployment of new technology, we would have a pilot programme. Such a programme would ensure that we end up with technology that is accurate and effective and that any issues which need to be identified are identified at an early stage and can be addressed prior to the wider roll-out.

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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