Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Sinn Féin supports this Bill but we have a number of concerns, which I would like to raise. Why has it taken seven years for this issue to reach the Dáil and Seanad to be legislated for? An Garda Síochána has been operating the exchange of information on criminals with other police forces since 2012. Obviously, this activity was being carried out with the best of intentions but it did not have a legal basis. This is highly irregular. Why did this legal gap continue for so long? There are a number of questions, which the Minister can deal with at the end. A review should be carried out to provide answers regarding this legal loophole. We need answers to the obvious questions arising from the delay. It is not just the Seanad and the Dáil that need answers. The European Commission issued this State with a formal notice to resolve this anomaly or explain to it why we are in this legal limbo.We should not be in this space.

All EU member states are part of the criminal information exchange programme and now that Britain is leaving the EU, questions arise about the protection of the information that the British police has received from An Garda Síochána over the past seven years. At present, this information is protected by EU data protection legislation but once Britain leaves the EU, this information is not protected. What arrangements are being put in place to ensure this information is protected?

I would also like to know whether criminal records travel with them from state to state as they pass through the EU. There may be examples where crimes in one state are not crimes in another. What of non-EU nationals? Do their criminal records follow them when they become citizens of another EU state? The Netherlands has put in place a provision to ensure that data are passed between member states in the event of change of nationality of an offender. When people change nationality when they arrive here or in another EU state, how will this be dealt with?

The Bill sets out the need for the competent storing of documentation to ensure it is available for sharing if required. The storing of data can be an onerous task and we saw that when documents relevant to the tribunal of inquiry were lost. Is it proposed to have separate registers for storing convictions or will all information be stored in a central database? Will the bureau in Tipperary that deals with vetting continue to store that information or will it be duplicated?

It is important that the public has confidence in the system designed to protect data and that it is clearly capable of being protected and that robust accountability measures are in place should the system break down. The Garda Síochána is the central authority for the exchange of records and yet it is facing staff shortages. Will the Garda have adequate staff to perform this task?

Twenty working days is the timescale for the delivery of information requested by respective police services. Is this a realistic timescale? I am informed by people who regularly seek access to information from various agencies of the State, including the criminal justice system, that such a request is more likely to be delivered in 20 months. The concern is that 20 days is an unrealistic timeframe.

The issue of spent records is one about which we need to be careful. The issue of spent convictions needs to be dealt with and clearly thought through in respect of this legislation.

The general thrust of what has been done here is admirable and needs to be brought forward as quickly as possible. All EU states, including this one, need to be conscious that there is a serious issue regarding the protection of people's data with regard to exchange of information so that it is not open to hackers and cannot be accessed by people outside the tight confines of the criminal justice system here or in other EU states.

I await the Minister's response to those concerns but, as I stated, my party will be supporting the passage of this legislation.