Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

Section 47 relates to the prohibition on opening postal packets and mailbags. Subsection (4) provides for exemptions to this prohibition and these exemptions include anyone who is acting on foot of a direction issued by the Minister under section 110 of the Post and Telecommunications Services Act 1983.

Amendment No. 46 clarifies that section 110 of the 1983 Act, as listed in section 47(4)(b) is amended by the new section 48 of this Bill, which I am now proposing in amendment No. 47. Amendment No. 47 proposes a new section which will enable the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources to issue directions in relation to the interception of postal packets carried by postal service providers to all postal service providers. This power has previously been confined to packets carried by An Post. While this provision is not a requirement of the postal services directive, the Department of Justice and Law Reform has advised my Department that it is essential, from a law enforcement and security perspective, to ensure that all operators in the market are subject to directions in order to comply with the interception authorisations. Government approval was given in July to draft this section and I am proposing to insert this section as an amendment to the Bill.

The current regime for the interception of postal packets operates on the basis of the complementary interaction of provisions in the Post and Telecommunications Services Act 1983 and the Interception of Postal Packets and Telecommunications Messages (Regulation) Act 1993. As Minster for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, I may issue directions to An Post to comply with an interception authorisation under the 1993 Act. An Post must then comply with an authorisation given by the Minister for Justice and Law Reform in response to an individual application from the Commissioner of the Garda Síochána or the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces.

The new section provides for an amendment to section 100 of the 1983 Act to extend the power to issue directions to all postal service providers, and not only An Post, for the purpose of intercepting postal packets. The approach adopted in this section is similar to that taken in relation to the interception of telecommunications messages in 1999.

The proposed amendment is necessary in order to prevent a gap arising in the law as in the liberalised postal packet market it will be carried by operators other than An Post. It is important that all operators in the market be subject to directions to comply with interception authorisations.

Section 48(3) contains the necessary consequential amendments to the 1993 Interception of Postal Packets and Telecommunications Messages (Regulation) Act to reflect the amendments to the Post and Telecommunications Services Act 1983.

The Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources has power to issue directions of a general nature to An Post, which is appropriate as 100% of An Post's shareholding is held by the Minister. The Minister for Finance will remain unaffected.

It is currently an offence under section 110(6), as inserted by the Criminal Justice (Mutual Assistance) Act 2008, not to comply with the ministerial direction under section 110. Section 48(4)(b) clarifies that such an offence applies to An Post only in regard to non-compliance with a direction concerning interception under the 1993 Act.