Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)

My party will support the Minister on the introduction of this measure. The basic purpose of the passenger name record system is to collect flight passenger data and the intention of this proposal is that such data be held for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of terrorism, human trafficking - one of the bigger challenges facing this country - and other serious crimes.

As part of its wider agenda to better protect us against security threats the European Union has proposed this directive in order to establish this system on an EU-wide basis. As well as ensuring close co-operation between law enforcement authorities within the European Union the new PNR will harmonise existing national systems. Were all 27 member states to prepare individual PNR legislation, the result would be uneven levels of protection and personal data across the Union, security gaps, increased costs, legal uncertainty and a greater certainty of a potential major terrorist event. The proposal makes sense and that is why we support having a coherent EU-wide approach.

Under the directive as proposed, all airlines flying to or from participating member states must provide the PNR data for their law enforcement authorities. As the Minister noted, in following the American model the EU PNR will cover 19 types of data concerning flights into and out of the European Union which will allow police to carry out a risk assessment of passengers and share alerts with law enforcements agents in other member states and in the world at large.

I understand the first debate on this issue took place last week at the Justice and Home Affairs Council and that the Minister is one of those who argue the directive does not go far enough in its scope and that the PNR system should be extended to all intra-European flights. We on this side of the House support this approach and will support the Minister in his work in this respect.

In the light of the increased operational added value there is a strong case to be gained from this approach. An extension of a system to cover all flights within the European Union is essential in order to assure the overall effectiveness. PNR data are already used on a daily basis by airlines and stored in the reservation systems of airline carriers for commercial reasons. It makes no sense, therefore, that such data thus stored should not be used to provide greater protection for citizens of Europe. PNR data, manually obtained, have been used for almost 60 years by customs and law enforcement authorities throughout the world. The United States, Canada and Australia oblige EU aircraft carriers to make PNR data available for all who fly in or out of those countries and we have been used to providing such information for many years. PNR data are collected in some member states already. Spain substituted a system of collecting such data following the Madrid bombing and Britain introduced a PNR system some time ago. For its part, Britain has argued that PNR data ensured the arrest of a suspect in the Mumbai attacks in 2008 after the person was tracked by British authorities while travelling on a flight from Germany to Britain.

Under the EU proposals, PNR data will be kept for 30 days in a dedicated unit following a flight. Then the passenger's name must be deleted and the anonymous data stored for up to five years. Those with civil liberty issues may take reassurance from such a short period of maintaining personal information while ensuring the general information will be available. Information is power and information on security issues and data exchange should ensure not only that citizens are protected but that the protection is such that personal information is not leaked and is protected in such a way that disks cannot be stolen, databases cannot be hacked or such that it does not interfere with the rights of citizens.

Under the directive, the authorities can only use PNR data to fight terrorism, crime and human trafficking. I encourage the Minister to be vigilant in talks at the Justice and Home Affairs Council, to ensure the protection of this data is given the highest priority and that given the different legal systems in countries, there will be a basic high standard of protection, especially when it comes to sharing this information with other countries. If there is any breach of this protection then the basis on which this PNR system is formed and on which we support it would be eroded immediately and the protections it seeks to provide would, therefore, be damaged.

We all remember the events on 11 September 2001, the reaction to the Madrid bombs and many other terrorist attacks. Airlines and airplanes are now a weapon of choice for terrorism organisations, which do not care about the damage they may cause or about people who would be killed as a result of their activity. We must ensure we provide the greatest protection for people by ensuring the data they willingly provide is made available to fight terrorism.

It is important this is moved quickly. The Minister has a tight timeframe, the reason we are here this evening. We should provide extra support and protection, based on this data, to the Garda and anti-terrorism agencies, including whatever training they may need. I call on the Minister to comment on this when he closes. Is there an additional training requirement for the Garda or Department of Justice and Equality officials? The Minister referred to the establishment of a PNR centre in Ireland. Is this planned under the programme for Government or can it be established relatively quickly within the provisions of the Croke Park agreement? Will it involve recruiting new staff who would be specialised and trained in this area? We support this proposal and look forward to working through the detail and co-operating with the Minister to ensure Ireland is involved in this as soon as possible.

See this speech in context