Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

If as frequently happens, somebody says they are being subjected to harassment or nuisance calls, all the Garda can establish is that one phone contacted another at a particular time and for a particular length of time. The Senator can be reassured that the content of the call is not recorded. What the Senator says on the phone is not on some recording device, unless the Minister, on foot of the statutory process I mentioned earlier, sanctioned in advance a tap on his phone. For instance, if one is investigating nuisance or harassment calls, there is no method whereby the telecommunications company or the Garda can summon up from somewhere the content of the conversation.