John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)

Section 5(7) already provides that an authorisation or approval may authorise a member of the Garda Síochána, the Defence Forces or the Revenue Commissioners to enter any place if necessary by use of reasonable force for the purpose of initiating or carrying out surveillance and withdrawing a surveillance device without the consent of a person who owns it or is in charge of the place. The Senator's proposal provides that the authorisation provision would also authorise interference with that place. The present text is broadly drafted and deliberately wide to encompass all the different ways in which surveillance may be initiated and carried out.

The definition of place in the interpretation section is also broadly drafted as the Senator rightly pointed out. I believe it already encompasses the Senator's concerns. We cannot consider one section in isolation and Senator Bacik rightly went on to acknowledge that a judge already has discretion under the Bill to attach conditions to the authorisation. The procedure governing the right of entry into a place and the initiation of surveillance in whatever format would be subject to any conditions considered appropriate by the judicial authority in respect of the surveillance and for that reason I do not propose to accept the amendment.