Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I respect the Deputy's perspective on this and people are entitled to have different positions. I support the initiative to facilitate facial recognition, in respect of certain areas such as child sexual abuse, for example, where its use could mean getting to a perpetrator early to intervene or in a murder case or for the prevention a crime, but not to be used wholesale. There is no proposal to use it on a broad basis or to take a wholesale approach. There is always a balance in trusting our gardaí too. They are dealing more and more with sophisticated criminals who are also using technology. To a large extent, one could argue some of the criminal gangs are ahead of police forces globally. Technology is advancing and this poses real challenges to us. We should always seek to use technology for the public good and for the benefit of our public and our citizens. That is the motivation behind the Minister of Justice's admission, which I support. I accept the different perspectives people have, which are valid.

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