Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I again refer the Minister to the concerns of the chairman of Digital Rights Ireland, Dr. T. J. McIntyre, who is a lecturer in UCD. He says: "It's worrying because it means telecommunications companies might be pressured into doing things that aren't entirely legal." He said that the companies would be prosecuted in secret and would be unable to disclose their objections publicly or even the fact that they were being prosecuted. He said he was very reluctant to allow that it was a good idea for the Minister to have the power to force companies to comply with secret orders.

The Minister is saying that the people are concerned about terrorist activities. Yes, they are concerned, but the balance appears to be going very much the other way. The principle of State security is being abused in order to impinge on the rights of ordinary people. Mass surveillance is becoming more common, there is far more interruption of communications and the private citizen is very concerned about it. We are heading down the wrong path on this.

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