Mr. Ronan Lupton:

The answer to that lies in the fact that the Department of Justice is already working on the communications retention and disclosure Bill. I would like to see that consulted on widely rather than this general scheme come in but there is an imperative to comply and to fix the issues. The question is for how long. My concern is that this proposed Bill, the communications (retention of data) (amendment) Bill 2022 might survive for longer than it should. In other words, the priority here should be the new arrangement in terms of retention and disclosure and the significant draws or lines between what is before us in the general scheme of this Bill and what will be proposed in future. Deputy Costello is right; there could be legal challenges and other issues here. If the committee is reporting on it, my submissions - I am not complimenting myself here - in conjunction with the other submissions that have been made are all sensible in the sense that this is what needs to happen to assist Mr. Kelleher and the Department to get it right or get it slightly better and pay attention to the national legal norms, such as in the Corcoran decision, for example. It is not just that decision; there are other issues that need to be considered. We need an overhaul on this and it needs to happen quickly. I hope that addresses Deputy Costello's question. I am happy to speak to him after the meeting if he needs anything clarified.