Kathryn Reilly (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House. I am thankful the Minister herself is here. The issue I have raised has been in the news during the last number of weeks. We have heard of wire-tapping, underwater cables and mass surveillance and we would have to be forgiven for thinking it could be a spy film. However, it is not the upcoming James Bond film. I am talking about the revelations that the British spy agency GCHQ has been monitoring virtually everything transmitted via the Internet in Ireland. I, like many others, am deeply worried by the actions of the agency.

This matter on the Adjournment has to do with the actions by British Government Communications Headquarters, GCHQ, its operation and the unashamed power it has, and is wielding, to go through online communications. Documents released by the whistleblower Edward Snowden outlined how a series of underwater cables connecting Ireland to the global telecoms network, or grid, are being tapped. The files listed the cables of the British Government Communications Headquarters has accessed or sought to access and identifies the commercial owners of the cables by code names.

Of particular concern to me and something about which I am deeply troubled is the minimal response there has been to what Dr. T.J. McIntyre, a lecturer at UCD School of Law and chairman of Digital Rights Ireland, has said, which is that the activity outlined in the documents amounts to mass surveillance and that everything being transmitted via the Internet in Ireland was being monitored. I have tabled this matter on the Adjournment to get the Government's response to these revelations and to garner further information on how the signing of statutory instrument No. 541 of 2014 relates to this.

Since the revelations came to light, the British investigatory powers tribunal, IPT, found that the British security services may, in principle, carry out mass surveillance of all fibre optic cables entering or leaving Britain, but the tribunal has asked for more submissions on whether receiving bulk intercepted material from foreign intelligence agencies has been lawful up until now. This decision has been criticised as it could mean that not only can the British intercept communications in and out of its own territory on a mass scale but it can provide those private communications to foreign governments with very few restrictions.

The absence of privacy protections or safeguards for individuals when conducting surveillance puts at risk the privacy and freedom of expression of human rights activists across the world. It is important that countries uphold human rights obligations and respect a citizen's right to privacy and freedom of expression as enshrined in Articles 8 and 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights. On foot of the decision in Britain, human rights groups have said they will appeal to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg against the overall finding that the surveillance and information sharing is legal.

Where I am going with all this and why I am referencing the statutory instrument, the Snowden leaks and the decision by the British IPT is to do with the fact that the signing of the statutory instrument has been criticised for, perhaps, essentially, giving legal effect to such interceptions. It is deeply worrying for people who are concerned with civil liberties and privacy. There has been much outrage within the circles of those who have been paying attention to this issue about the fact that, rather than being outraged as a nation, the Government seems to be retroactively legalising it. This matter has been tabled in order for the Government to put on record its response to these spying revelations and how the statutory instrument relates to this.