Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As I have said, the 1993 legislation provides that an authorisation for interception may only be granted by ministerial warrant on application from the Garda Commissioner, the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces or the chairperson of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, and only for the purposes of the investigation of serious crime or protecting the security of the State as set out in the 1993 Act and in accordance with the relevant statutory provisions.

As I said in reply to Deputy Wallace, the 2009 Act clearly provides that authorisation must be by the District Court on application by a senior officer of the relevant bodies for the purposes prescribed under that Act.

These Acts were passed by the Oireachtas and it was agreed to have judicial oversight of their operation - that is in law. They report directly to the Taoiseach. There is a complaints referee, who is a judge of the Circuit Court. All of these judges take their roles very seriously and operate completely independently.

The powers we have given to the relevant bodies arise in the context of investigating serious crime, that is to say, offences that carry a penalty of five or more years in prison, or for safeguarding the security of the State by the Garda Síochána or the Defence Forces. I will not restate the point I made earlier about how important it is to have these tools available to the relevant bodies.

There is no question of widespread powers being used casually. The investigatory powers that are set out in law are circumscribed as to their use not only by the provisions of the relevant Acts, but also by the statutory limits on the powers in the legislation as regards each of the bodies.

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