Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I want to start by making some general remarks. If we are going to quote the Sinn Féin funds case and Supreme Court judgments, we should all have concern - in the words of Chief Justice Ó Dálaigh - for the contingencies of "an improbable but not-to-be-overlooked future". I came across those words in Mr. Justice Hardiman's decision in DPP v. JC. His introduction to that judgment is very apt now. He was concerned about the force publiqueand the need to actively protect fundamental freedoms. That is ultimately the background to what we are considering today. The legislation was struck down on the grounds that it did not sit with the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. That is the context within which the Bill should be considered and weighed in the balance. Like others, I also have concerns about the process, but I will skip over those briefly.

I will pick out some general themes on the basis of what the witnesses have stated. Several of them mentioned the protection of sources, judicial authorisation and oversight and independent oversight. I am concerned that we are not living up to the importance of protecting those fundamental rights of EU citizens. We could end up - partly because of the rushed legislation and the failure to recognise these issues - in the same situation where this and even the next legislation will be thrown out, possibly in the context of a horrendous case, invalidating a swathe of criminal investigations. Good work by An Garda Síochána could be thrown out because of these procedural failings.

By way of another general observation, much reference is made about senior Garda officers being able to issue their own warrants and approve their own search requests. While we are focused on senior officers, I have voiced concern about that in other pre-legislative scrutiny debates, so I feel I should say it again here.

What do Mr. McIntyre and the DPC consider to be the effect of the mandatory consultation periods and the lack of a data protection impact assessment, DPIA? How much of a legal frailty does it introduce and could the legislation be left open to challenge? We are rushing this proposed legislation. It is complex in terms of its subject matter and needs to be taken slowly so that we do not get it wrong. Rushed legislation has a habit of being wrong. We have these two risks combined, which is quite concerning. Are we introducing a fatal legal frailty into the proposed Bill?

Mr. Kelleher spoke about the background to the general scheme. The timeline in his submission seems to start quite late. It does not mention the Tele2 case, the Digital Rights Ireland case or the Murray report. It does not really mention the previous pre-legislative scrutiny. Why were the issues raised in the Murray report and the previous pre-legislative scrutiny ignored when drafting the Bill?

One of my concerns might be addressed by the assistant Garda commissioner. While I have spoken generally about restraining the force publique- to quote Mr. Justice Hardiman again - I am conscious of the Blazejewicz case, which involves Garda access to web data. I appreciate that this is an ongoing case, so I will not say more. There was a previous case involving a member of An Garda Síochána using surveillance technology to trace and check in on a former partner. We have seen the treatment of whistleblowers and journalist sources. In light of the new and extensive powers gardaí will get without independent oversight or the possibility of anex post factoreview, as raised by others, is the assistant Garda commissioner happy that there is ample internal oversight to prevent abuse of these powers by individual gardaí?