Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important Bill, which contains new and enhanced powers for An Garda Síochána to operate recording devices and robust safeguards for such recording. An Garda Síochána plays such a vital role in all our communities and in society. Its members are those on the front lines who protect us every day, keep our people safe and serve our communities. In recent weeks, however, we have seen some serious incidents where gardaí have been seriously injured. We must address this issue in the Oireachtas and condemn such actions.

In modern society, fully digitalised systems need to be incorporated. It is crucially important that An Garda Síochána has access to the latest technologies to counter such challenges. Across all EU member states and globally, we see that modern police services must adapt and be up-to-date regarding their digital tools and technologies to keep our communities safe and to protect citizens and themselves. The principal objective in this Bill is to provide such tools to An Garda Síochána.

I will touch first on the pros of the Bill. Deploying body-worn cameras will certainly improve the accurate recording of incidents, allow for the prosecution of offenders and protect Garda officers from assault. These are certainly benefits. Not only will this benefit gardaí, but civilians may also be protected from Garda misconduct, which cannot be forgotten. I support the inclusion of the amendments brought forward by the Minister, one such being the use of facial recognition technology, to improve this Bill. Before its introduction, however, I ask that all data protection impact assessments and human rights assessments be carefully considered and thoroughly investigated.

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I note the points made previously by Members in this House that facial recognition technology can lead to mass monitoring and profiling and unintended consequences around surveillance. We should in no shape or form be using it to racially profile any member of the public. Through those assessments and studies, we will have a better picture of its introduction.

The second point is around the violation of rights. We must enforce strict guidelines for gardaí when they are routinely collecting, retaining, storing and searching through the tremendous amount of personal data of members of the public they will have at their discretion. We certainly do not want to utilise this technology inappropriately, which may put our people's rights at risk. That is an important element. If the facial recognition technology ends up being approved, our right to privacy must be protected. Our rights to free assembly and association and the right to equality and non-discrimination must also be protected. There is still a high degree of discretion left to the codes and practices so we should be more transparent around how the Garda will use these body-worn cameras. We require a statutory code of practice to set the standards for the use of these body-worn cameras.

The third point is the ambiguity of the recording devices. We should be more specific about the term "recording devices" and the types of devices we will use. It is quite ambiguous. While body cameras have been specified, the recording devices have not been distinguished. These devices can range from tablets to mobile phones to drones. While additional emerging technology may be highly utilised or may provide more beneficial effect to the Garda force, these technologies can simultaneously pose a threat of significant human rights violations. A drone, for example, poses significant privacy risks since we cannot be certain about what data are being collected, who is collecting them or the data processing procedure around that type of technology.

The fourth point is about public concern. The public are concerned that body-worn cameras may add an unfair bias to a garda's version of events due to the camera being under the exclusive control of the garda. That is an important point. We must reinforce the point that fully trained and qualified gardaí will be utilising the cameras effectively and appropriately, and in a transparent manner in the way the data will be processed. The Bill must facilitate a human rights impact assessment, as I said previously, around data protection.

This type of technology is relatively new and therefore the research in this area is still a developing field. We must be mindful of that. We should not automatically assume the new technology will only contribute positively to policing or justice issues. We must be meticulous about the enforcement of body-worn cameras and we must be very detailed about the access to these devices and the manner in which they will be used.

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