Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I was reviewing questions and previous statements in the House regarding the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland's recommendation for the introduction of body-worn cameras. Policing organisations around the world have found such devices can help to improve front-line capability with the accurate recording of incidents, expedite analysis, enhance situation awareness and sometimes protect police from harm. They could probably do a lot more than that.

There is overwhelming support within An Garda Síochána for the introduction of body cameras. If we are going to legislate in this House, the first thing we must do is engage with stakeholders who are on the front line and listen to what they have to say. It is fair comment to say that the policing environment in this country has changed very much over the past decade or two and, unfortunately, it seems to have changed even further over the past number of months. This is a significant concern for all gardaí and for anybody who is trying to uphold the law in this State. Unfortunately, we will have to be more radical in terms of policing, management and penal reform and the Bill is just one of the legs of that stool.

Members have spoken about facial recognition. As the Ceann Comhairle will attest, we had a delegation in Leinster House yesterday from the Japanese embassy. If one were to speak to those people about where facial recognition is going and has already gone in Japan, one would realise that we are light years behind in that regard. I accept the fact that people have concerns as to the preservation of their digital identity but that can be worked out in the context of policy and management protocols.

Another point to note in the context of this Bill relates to the pervasive use of phones by the public to record their interactions with An Garda Síochána but gardaí do not have the right to make a reciprocal recording. Almost two years ago there was a tragic incident where a public figure in this country harassed a garda online and that garda subsequently took his own life. That is reprehensible but it is happening all of the time. It is even happening outside the gates of Leinster House when there are protests going on. We have to arm our public services and our police force appropriately and the Bill will do that

I accept that there is the potential for data loss and data abuse and that has to be managed. I also accept that we need to have a rigorous system to protect access to information and digital identities in respect of the information that these cameras will deliver. However, regarding concerns expressed about GDPR, I was a member of the council in Waterford three years ago. We had major littering problems. People were backing up their cars and fly-tipping in certain areas but we could not deploy cameras to record the number plates of cars because of GDPR. That policy has softened somewhat but we are not fully there yet. At times we seem to fall down a rabbit hole and tie our own hands in terms of what we need to do.

On balance, I accept the assertions of An Garda Síochána that this tool is needed for better policing and that it can be appropriately used and managed. From that point of view, I support An Garda Síochána and the Bill.

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