Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) (Amendment) Bill 2025: From the Seanad Dail Éireann — 2026-07-08 ============================================================ Catherine Ardagh (FF), Dublin South-Central I thank Deputy Carthy for his support for this legislation. I also note the other issues he raised in relation to wider criminal justice and Garda issues. However, I will go back to discussing Deputy Kelly's amendment, tabled by Deputy Sheehan. The amendment made in the Seanad to section 43C(2) is to allow, where necessary and appropriate, An Garda Síochána, in the context of international co-operation, to utilise biometric analysis, subject to a code of practice. The code of practice must be laid before both Houses for positive resolutions to be passed. The relevant EU or domestic measure, international agreement or circumstances for use of biometric analysis will aid gardaí in determining whether its use is necessary and proportionate to the criminal offence for which it is proposed to be carried out. It will not be utilised for every criminal offence, and An Garda Síochána will be best placed to determine whether it is proportionate to utilise in the context of the specific offence they have been asked for assistance with. The use of biometric analysis will be subject to a code of practice, which is required to be laid before both Houses for positive resolutions to be passed. There will also be annual oversight by an independent member of the Judiciary, who will report to the Taoiseach annually on its operation. That report will be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas. The key point is that it may be used, not that it will be used for all international co-operation that An Garda Síochána engage in. A lot of investigations into child sexual abuse material may be referred from international partners, and it is imperative that gardaí have all the tools they require at their disposal to co-operate internationally in this field. Missing persons investigations may not always be confined to one state and the same applies to victims of crimes such as trafficking. Cross-border co-operation is imperative in these types of investigations as well. All requests from Europol and Interpol are channelled through the respective units within An Garda Síochána. There must be a clear justification for any requests from Europol or Interpol, and it must fall within the mandate of those organisations. International partners, such as other member states' police forces, operate within their own national laws and EU laws when sharing information. I, therefore, cannot accept the proposed amendment. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-07-08/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:07+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-07-08