Garda Síochána (Powers) Bill 2026 [Seanad]: Second Stage
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-16
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Shane Moynihan (FF), Dublin Mid-West

Is mór agam é labhairt ar an mBille seo, Bille a cuirfidh le nua-aoisiú An Gharda Síochána agus a chinnteoidh go bhfuil na cumhachtaí atá aige oiriúnach don lá atá inniu ann.
I welcome this Bill as a programme for Government commitment and as a very important step for An Garda Síochana and the way in which its members do their work, the context surrounding the way they do their work and the legislative framework underpinning it, in terms of modernising them and keeping pace with working practices and procedures in other spheres.
The first thing I want to address relates to Part 5 of the Bill, which is about the electronic recording of interviews. This is something I have been speaking about for a while during my time in this House. There are cumbersome procedures with regard to the taking of witness statements and the interviewing of suspects that require members of An Garda Síochána to write down by hand that which is uttered in an interview and then to recount that back to the individual who is being interviewed and to check that the transcription by hand has been done. We do not train gardaí to be transcribers or stenographers, so I would like clarification on whether this Bill will allow provision for the use of AI transcription services, for example, to transcribe the notes of what is said to minimise that writing time and, more importantly, to maximise the amount of time gardaí spend on front-line policing as opposed to a task that could be performed by a machine.
My next point relates to Part 2 of the Bill and the requirement to record searches. Again, like all the things we ask members of An Garda Síochána to do, if this requirement is introduced, I would urge that a technological solution be found to make it easy on an app, mobile device or computer to record the detail of that search very quickly as opposed to having to do it on a paper-based file, and to allow immediate connectivity with the PULSE electronic system.
I also urge that the requirements and powers being given to An Garda Síochána under Part 2 of the Bill be used to deal with illegally held vehicles, such as e-scooters and e-bikes. Pending the registration requirements that I hope the Minister for Transport will introduce, that will be another tool in the toolbox of An Garda Síochána to take illegally held e-scooters and e-bikes off our streets.
Turning to Part 3 of the Bill, one thing we have heard and which the Minister will have heard of in his constituency as well is the prevalence of vape shops and the public's suspicion that in many cases some of these shops could be used for laundering money, as a front for organised crime or, more heinously, providing illegal narcotic substances in a different form to younger persons and minors in particular. The context within which vape shops are operating in our streets, towns and villages in our country is one where many people do have this suspicion around them. We must make sure that gardaí will have the power under this Bill to undertake a search of such a premises where they have anecdotal suspicion that drugs or money laundering is happening as a front for a particular premises.
Finally, on Part 5 of the Bill, I welcome the updating of the custody arrangements for people who are taken into Garda custody. I think this also presents us with an opportunity to look at how we manage custody more generally. Models they apply in the PSNI and in England and Wales allow for the introduction of custody suites, where officers on the beat in a patrol area can leave the suspects who have been arrested in a large centre that does not require multiple Garda officers to be there. It requires a custody sergeant to take custody of all those people but would minimise the need to scatter to different Garda stations around the area. I am thinking about locations like Ronanstown Garda station in my area, which would be a perfect location for such a custody suite, to make sure we are providing custody at scale. Again, this is all about freeing up garda time. If a garda is doing a task not necessarily linked to front-line policing, how do we minimise the administrative nature of that task and replace it with something else? I hope the Minister takes those considerations on board.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-09-16/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:48+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-09-16