John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)

The Bill governs the use of surveillance, not only by the Garda Síochána but also by members of the Defence Forces and officers of the Revenue Commissioners. It is intended in the Bill that members of an equivalent level of authority in each of these State agencies would apply to the court for authorisations to carry out surveillance and to grant approvals both in cases of urgency and for the use of tracking devices. Although in some cases a member of the rank of superintendent may be directly involved in the surveillance operation, it is envisaged that another member of the force would be designated to undertake the surveillance by the superintendent to whom the authorisation is issued or who grants the approval.

I do not believe it is necessary or appropriate in the case of the Garda Síochána to provide that it must be an officer of a higher rank who makes an application or grants an approval, nor do I think that is practical. It is my view that the competence and experience which attaches to the rank of Garda superintendent means that this is an appropriate grade for it and is of an equivalence to the rank and grade in the Defence Forces and the Revenue Commissioners of colonel and principal officer, respectively, who deal with authorisations and approvals. I believe that a Garda superintendent is of a sufficiently high authority to undertake this role, while at the same time being sufficiently close to the operational side of the work of preventing, detecting and investigating a crime, and for that reason I do not propose to accept this amendment.