Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am sure it will come as a great shock to the Senator when I say that I cannot accept the amendment. He is seeking to require the national unit to forward requests for personal data to Europol within 14 days instead of 30 days.

I appreciate the argument for reducing the timeframe for the forwarding to Europol of requests for personal data. However, the timeframe of one month is set out in the Council decision under Article 32. The national unit should work within the same timeframes as the authorities in other states. It is important our provisions for the implementation of our obligations reflect those in operation in other states.