Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I want to re-echo what has been said here about the value of this session. It is very important that the Oireachtas has the opportunity to have sessions of this kind. I want to make a few points. It seems, as has been pointed out by some of the contributors, that the sourcing of data material is not adequately dealt with in this legislation. Is a public service card available? Are passport photographs available? Is there a duty on the people who have those databases to make them available and in what circumstances? I would like to see that developed when the Bill comes before us again.

The second issue is the code of practice. I appreciate that the Minister is going to generate that but we should have some kind of regular review built into the statute so that the code of practice does not fossilise.

Third, with regard to the number of offences that are covered in the Schedule, I notice that apart from the security of the State, they are all personal injury-type offences. Maybe it is a bit topical, but arson is one thing which, at the moment, carries a life sentence. Organised crime is something at which we should also look. It seems to be that some of the offences covered could be minor compared with some of those.

There is one last point I wish to put out, which is that if people are going to be compelled to produce data from their own resources or from national databases and the like, the circumstances in which they are going to face such compulsion are very important. We hear so often now of people looking for dashcam footage. I have often wondered whether I am entitled to go around my neighbourhood using a dashcam as a local vigilante. In any event, however, it is very frequently sought. We should be conscious in all of this that nobody is going to be convicted on AI. In the end, a jury, judge or whoever is going to have to get the testimony of a garda and look at the material themselves to see whether they accept all this. I accept there is a danger that people will be arrested and unfairly made a suspect if the technology is not good. However, the chance of anybody being wrongfully convicted because of an algorithm is zilch.