Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. I understand both the rationale and the intent of what he is proposing. There has been very intensive back and forth between my Department, legal advisers, drafters and the Attorney General on many aspects of the Bill because we are trying to walk a very tight line between protecting people who are trying to access healthcare services and protecting the right of expression and to protest. It is delicate legislation; there is no question about that.

We looked at these three amendments from that perspective. I understand where the Deputy is coming from. I also read the committee's report and saw some of the proceedings and some of the concerns being raised. An Garda Síochána has indicated that it is not possible under the current configuration of PULSE to record these warnings centrally. This matter was raised by the committee. The advice I have is that it would not be appropriate for the Minister for Health, in consultation with the Minister for Justice, as per the Deputy's amendments, to become involved in regulating what I think we would all agree are operational matters for An Garda Síochána, in this case, by prescribing the systems to be used. While that may be something for the Garda Commissioner or Minister for Justice, the clear advice I have is that it would not be appropriate for a Minister for Health to regulate or have powers to regulate what are appropriate operational matters for An Garda Síochána.

The Bill, in line with the recommendation from the committee, includes provision for the mandatory recording of warnings. That is an important aspect of the legislation.

The legislation as it is currently worded allows the Garda to have the necessary flexibility to operate within the confines of the current systems and it also permits the future use of the central recording system, should one become available. To be clear, if a central system becomes available at an operational level, gardaí can record these centrally and achieve what it is that the committee was setting out to achieve. The advice I have, though, is that it is not appropriate for a Minister for Health to regulate for those kinds of operational details for An Garda Síochána.