Ms Sinéad Gibney:

We have sought on a number of occasions to access those data through letters to the data office of the Garda Commissioner. In our previous submission to this committee we spoke specifically about disaggregated data as it relates to people with disabilities. My colleagues who are on the strategic human rights advisory committee, SHRAC, for An Garda Síochána have also raised it there. What it prevents us from doing is monitoring the implementation of the regulations. If we do not know who is being impacted by the regulations, then we cannot effectively carry out a human rights and equality impact assessment or an assessment of how these powers are being used. We also recently wrote regarding the use of spit hoods, and there are no disaggregated data on that, for example.

Disaggregated data are something that we have been talking about for a long time. They are something that the UN comments on when we engage in the treaty monitoring mechanism that we, as Ireland's national human rights institution, have. Without understanding how powers, laws and practices impact on specific groups, we are unable to monitor effectively the human rights and equality impacts of those activities. Disaggregated data are something that we have to improve on in this State. They are particularly pertinent to this issue and this current phase.