Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 196:

In page 100, line 5, after "may" to insert "reasonably".

Amendments Nos. 196 to 198, inclusive, are about putting in place stronger safeguards in respect of the powers of authorised officers. These are very wide in the Bill and there may need to be better caveats. Amendment No. 196 would insert the word "reasonably" after the word "may" in the preamble to the activities that authorised officers may take in respect of utilising their powers. This would ensure an authorised officer would not utilise powers under the legislation in a manner that might be excessive or unreasonable. It is an additional safeguard.

Amendment No. 197 proposes to insert "reasonably considers necessary" with regard to an authorised officer. It proposes to delete the provision in section 139ZC that an authorised officer may remove from any place and retain any relevant material or relevant equipment for such period as the authorised officer reasonably considers necessary. It replaces it with a provision that the authorised officer can remove and retain relevant material or equipment for a period not exceeding eight weeks without the review of the superior officer. This strikes a better balance between the powers of authorised officers, appropriate accountability and civil liberties. It would mean we avoid a scenario whereby we may have the indefinite seizure of property, potentially leading to the inoperability or non-continuation of the work of an online provider.That might potentially lead to the inoperability or non-continuation of the work of an online provider, for example.

Amendment No. 198 would delete the provision in section 139ZC that basically indicates an authorised officer may be accompanied by a garda and effectively states such an officer must be accompanied by a member of An Garda Síochána. This relates to the execution of warrants without the presence of gardaí or any other persons to ensure a warrant is being lawfully executed, which creates a danger that warrants may not be executed in accordance with the provision of the warrant. The powers being given here are very significant and it is why I am trying to ensure we do not have any risk or even a perceived risk whereby quite a lot would be left solely to the discretion of an authorised officer without appropriate safeguards and accountability mechanisms.

Effectively, these are all accountability mechanisms and if material is retained for longer than eight weeks, the person in question should be speaking with a superior officer about why that needs to be done. If a warrant is being exercised that will allow an officer to seize and search for materials, a member of An Garda Síochána should be present. I presume that will not happen every day and although it is something that needs to be there as a power, it is really important that it be carried out properly. Those are the key provisions.