Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

It is a pity that the Minister cannot accept that the intention of the amendments was not to in any way hamper the day-to-day activities of the Garda. I cannot ask the Minister to consider an alternative wording at this Stage. The wording in the amendment is one we came up with in an effort to be helpful. Surveillance, as defined in the Bill, covers a great deal of Garda activities. Monitoring takes place on a regular basis, but it does not allow for photographing or video recording on an ongoing basis. That is why we included the wording "ongoing and repeated photographing of persons for the purposes of monitoring and/or recording the movements" in the amendment.

I will not press the amendment. I have argued the case put forward by the Irish Human Rights Commission that the wording proposed in the amendment should come under the definition of surveillance and what surveillance devices are allowed to be used by the Garda Síochána. It is a pity that due to the rushed nature of the debate we have not had a longer period to tease out whether this type of definition is covered in other jurisdictions. I will leave it at that for the moment. I urge the Minister to consider the matter as the Bill progresses to the Seanad. He might have an opportunity to amend it there and we can return to the matter in the Dáil.

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