Mr. Simon McGarr:

The question of data retention has been a hotly contested one since the regime was introduced by way of a secret ministerial order by the then Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources to the telecommunications companies to retain data. That order came to light when the then Data Protection Commissioner, Mr. Joe Meade, said that in the event that the aforementioned order remained the sole basis on which data was retained, he would challenge it in the absence of any further legislative basis.