Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 30 June 2022

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality

General Scheme of the Communications (Retention of Data) (Amendment) Bill 2022: Discussion

Mr. Justin Kelly:

I might be able to add clarification around IP addresses and child abuse material. As the previous speaker referred to, IP addresses are key to those investigations. Currently, a tech company would report child abuse material and be able to tell us an IP address. For us, it is imperative to understand who the subscriber of the IP address is. We find out who the subscriber is. We do not get the content, as was just referred to, but the detail of where the person lives. That, with the various checks we have to go through, can allow us to apply to court for a search warrant to recover evidence. We will still be able, in the new situation, to get subscriber details from those IP addresses, so the investigation of child abuse material should continue as it is done now. I hope that adds clarification around the child abuse investigations referred to.

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