Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party)

While I do not wish to be repetitive, these issues are being raised precisely because of the importance of the census. Citizens have genuine concerns, given the private and medical information that is being collected in it. I do not believe the Minister of State has answered the questions fully. As supplementary questions, where is and what is the interface with the CSO staff based in Swords? As the aforementioned company supplies the hardware and software, how many CACI operatives, for example, will be present when the information goes back to Swords? Thereafter, during the processing of the forms, what will happen to the hardware, where will it be stored and will it be destroyed? What will happen to the software? These are the issues that are causing concern and when one considers the standards that are being adopted, it is not good enough to state that the parent company has never been convicted. It operates under the United States of America's rules of engagement, which permit highly unacceptable practices. While they may not be unlawful, they would be deemed unacceptable by most Irish citizens, such as permitting sleep deprivation, sensory deprivation and so on. The question is, out of all the companies in the world, why did the Government choose one the expertise of which is as professional interrogators and, in the main, as operators of defence contracts? All the companies it owns are military-based and deal with interrogation and defence. This does not sit neatly with the exceptionally important issues that are raised in the census. Consequently, the Minister of State should provide a little more information in respect of the number of staff, the interface and what will happen afterwards.

See this speech in context