Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the Minister and her husband, Paul, on their good news. While I am not a barrister like Senators Mullen, Ward and Martin, I have looked at this Bill and have certainly taken on board their comments. Far be it from me to need to defend the Minister but I note that in her speech, she said that she will continue to advocate at EU level for an EU-wide legal instrument that will support strong general data retention measures to deal with national security and law enforcement concerns.

I know we must be very cautious about referring to specific cases and I know there is a balance between data protection, the GDPR and freedom of information but there is a higher purpose, as Senator Mullen alluded to, in terms of allowing our gardaí to get evidence that exists and allowing that evidence to be used to prosecute people and for these people to go in front of a judge and jury and be convicted. Of course, nobody wants a false conviction but equally people do not want people to get off when the evidence is there that confirms or certainly supports the idea that they are guilty. I certainly want to ensure An Garda Síochána is fully equipped with laws and modern technology to fight crime.

Our party is certainly supporting this legislation. I acknowledge that it is not ideal that it comes through at this speed but we all understand why. We certainly do not want a situation where An Garda Síochána is hampered in doing what it does. We all want to make sure that if the evidence is there, if wrongdoing has been done and it can be proved that wrongdoing has been done, the evidence that supports that can be used. Nobody wants mass surveillance, to be tracked for everything or to have various agents of the State just looking at people's information for their own interest. However, it is really important that we make sure we give An Garda Síochána and other law enforcement agencies access to information that is there in their ongoing inquiries generally.

We do not want a situation where somebody who is guilty can use these types of loopholes to end up not being prosecuted and found guilty of crimes he or she has committed. Again, I am conscious of not referring to a particular case but hypothetically if people are guilty and the evidence is there, I think the general public would want our law enforcement agencies to be able to use all of the tools at their disposal to make sure those guilty of wrongdoing are convicted so I certainly support the Bill. The Minister made a very comprehensive opening statement. I do not intend to repeat what is happening in each section as there is no need for that. My party and I will be supporting this Bill and I thank the Minister for bringing it to the House.