Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

I would not like to see the House divide on these amendments. I listened carefully to the points well made by Deputy Sherlock. We discussed this on Committee Stage and it does not appear we will resolve the matter. This will give rise to a situation where the House divides and votes. With the backing of his party and his partners in government, the Minister of State will win the day. It would be a pity if that is the end of the situation because important points have been raised. It is a question of finding a balance between privacy for the citizen and security and protection for persons and communities. It is a question of how best we can strike a balance.

We are transposing an EU directive. Some EU directives do not provide for an element of discretion as provided for in this measure. The Minister of State referred to the discretion available to national governments in respect of the time limit. The Minister of State provides for two years for retention whereas Deputy Sherlock believes this is too long. In an attempt to arrive at a meeting of minds, what is the norm in other European countries? On Second Stage we made reference to the European countries that had already transposed the directive. I was critical that the directive has been knocking around for quite some time but had not been enshrined in national legislation. It would seem most of our European partners have enshrined the directive in national law. Perhaps the Minister of State can advise the House of the precise position in other jurisdictions as to the retention of usage data with particular reference to telephone, mobile, e-mail and Internet usage records. For example, what is the period in the UK, France, Belgium and other European countries? An important principle of enshrining these directives in our national law is to move towards a harmonised position so that the EU directive, when enshrined by national parliaments in national law, provides an element of consistency so that there is no broad difference that might otherwise arise from national discretion. I would like the Minister of State to let us know the position in other parliaments and jurisdictions having regard to the manner in which other countries have transposed the directive, notwithstanding the discretion to which he refers.

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