These amendments are to make small but important technical corrections to the legislation underpinning the motor insurance database. The Bill seeks to insert a new section 56A into the Road Traffic Act 1961, which will require people applying for motor insurance to provide certain information to the insurer. This is information the insurer would need to have later to provide it for the database. The text as it stands currently would require capturing the driver licence details of persons to whom paragraph (a) of th…

I wish to reassure the Senator that the ages for medical certificates for driving licences are set in regulations rather than the Bill. That will not change in the amendments or drafting of the Bill. As I said, we will continue to review and revise that issue based on the best advice from An Garda Síochána and the Road Safety Authority. Nothing in the Bill will change that or affect the rights of people to be able to get a licence.

I understand the Senator's concern, but I do not agree with the proposal. Section 5(p) of the Bill inserts a new section, section 109A, into the Road Traffic Act 1961 to provide for new Garda powers to deal with dangerous driving. I appreciate the Senators are concerned about the reference to a vehicle which is not only being driven or used but also likely to be driven or used in any place in which it is or is likely to be dangerous. At first reading, this may look like it is an invitation to act on suspicion that …

I accept and understand the argument Senator Higgins is making, and there is a certain validity to it. However, I also have to listen to other Senators and Deputies state this is long-awaited legislation and describe the real threat to people, particularly in parks, streets or urban areas, where people very threatened and very much endangered by the use of these scramblers. The Bill includes a provision for a garda to be able to stop a person, take down his or her address and other details and, if necessary, requir…

I do want to encourage the use of cargo bikes and tricycles but I am afraid I cannot accept the amendments because I do not think they are necessary. In fact, they could confuse matters, which I am sure we would not want to see happen. At the points where Senator Higgins is proposing to add reference to a cargo bicycle or tricycle to the Bill, we are amending the definitions of pedal cycle and pedal tricycle in road traffic legislation to provide clarity about electric bicycles and tricycles. Specifically, what we …

I will not be able to accept the Senator's amendment but I want to explain why. She asked that I name the devices. To take an example, the tag used at a tolling booth is another such data-gathering device. I could go on. The nature of the tags varies but there is a range of different types of devices and I do not think I can list in primary legislation all those other data gathering devices that are essential for the management of the road system. We have not come to it yet but I do intend to accept, subject to the…

It is difficult because our discussion is really about the future amendments, where it is my intention to accept what the Senator said during the Committee Stage debate and put a requirement on the Minister to be specific in respect of how it is regulated. In response to some of the direct concerns, those regulations include how data might be provided, used, stored, destroyed and so on. It is that amendment to the Bill, which we will discuss later, which I hope gives some of the protections that the Senator is conc…

This is to give flexibility and it is not in any way to diminish the role of local authorities. It may sometimes involve TII asking the local authorities to take some of the functions in national roads. It is not to restrict local authorities, but to extend their capabilities.

On Committee Stage we discussed some of the data-protection measures in the new section 77A, which the Bill will insert into the Road Traffic Act 1993 to deal with traffic cameras and other devices. I thank Senators Ruane and Higgins for drawing attention to the important issue of data protection regarding the use of cameras and other devices on our roads. I believe we are in agreement on the principles of protecting personal data and making sure that the technology cannot be misused. I remind the House that any pr…

This is a small, but important, amendment to improve data protection with regard to traffic cameras and other devices. Subsection 8 of the new section 77A that is being inserted into the Roads Act 1993 relates to data-sharing agreements when data from the cameras and devices in question are to be shared. Section 77A(8) lists matters which may be specified in a data-sharing agreement. One of these matters is that a data protection impact assessment, DPIA, should be conducted under section 84 of the Data Protection A…

I thank the Senator. As we discussed on Committee Stage, I share a lot of the concerns the Senators have with regard to the potential use of facial recognition technology and artificial intelligence machine process learning capabilities to infringe civil rights and they therefore have to be treated with the utmost caution in terms of how we apply and deploy that technology . While I understand that requirement, for a variety of different reasons which I will set out here I will not accept the two amendments. First,…

I will comment briefly. I am confident that the requirement and therefore the power of the Minister to issue regulations will allow us to provide the precautionary principle here and not allow the use of this technology. The proper drafting of legislation in this area requires further analysis and complex assessment, including what happens in Europe. We cannot just operate on signals from parliamentary committees. We must make sure that when we act, which we need to do, that the measure is robust, well defined and …

With the measures being included in the Bill it would become possible to declare a road or part of a road to be a national managed road. Where a road or part of a road has been declared to be a national management road, TII will be empowered to set special speed limits on the road. Senators will recall that the law on speed limits prescribes default limits for different classes of road. It also allows the roads authority to vary these by what are called special speed limits. This system of allowing roads authoritie…

I do not disagree with the Senator. The legislation does what it seeks to do. It gives flexibility to local authorities. It makes it site-specific, which is particularly useful when it comes to saving lives. The national review of speed limits is to come out very shortly. That will inform a wider public debate on what we are doing as regards speed policy. I do not believe the amendment goes against the desires of either Senator.

I thank the Senators very much. Important amendments were agreed in this House and these have added to and improved the Bill. It proves the purpose, worth and benefit of having this Chamber to improve our legislation. I thank my officials for the excellent work they have done. The Bill has had a long and slow progress, interrupted by the Covid pandemic. The timelines were difficult but I am very glad the Bill has passed in the Seanad. There is one last hurdle. We have to go back to the Dáil to get agreement to some…

I move: That Dáil Éireann supports the Government commitments on Offshore Renewable Energy referenced in the Policy Statement on the Framework for Phase Two Offshore Wind, approved by Government on 7th March, 2023, a copy of which was laid before Dáil Éireann on 17th May, 2023. If it is okay with the House, I will share two minutes of my time with the Minister of State, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, who, I presume, will be here in time.

I appreciate this opportunity to speak about trying to get broad support for what we are doing in offshore wind and to give a strong signal that this is an enormously important project for the development of energy security, climate targets and the industrial development of our country. In the few minutes I have, I will briefly set out some of the background to where we are at the moment. As we all know, Ireland was one of the first countries in Europe, if not the world, to develop offshore wind. Seven turbines wer…

I will leave it to Deputy Murnane O'Connor for the concluding two minutes.

I will begin by answering Deputy Pringle. I absolutely believe we should publish the recommendations and bring them back for debate in this Chamber. I agree with what Deputy Ó Cuív said earlier, which is that this Chamber is the pre-eminent citizens' assembly for our country, democratically elected and constitutionally mandated. We should and will be centre stage in discussing any policy in regard to our country’s future military or other foreign policy initiatives. I look forward to our party’s proud participation…

I do have an issue with the undemocratic structures that the UN Security Council is based on.