Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There is no court hearing required in this instance. The court, in its ruling, did not ask for such a provision because it did not deem general data as being as serious as location data and the other information it specifically singled out. I should not get into it but, obviously, all present area aware that can have a greater impact in terms of cases. The court has deemed that more general data is not really in the same serious category. At the moment, it can be accessed. That is being changed to an extent because it can only be maintained for a certain amount of time when it comes to dealing with criminal offences or serious criminal offences. We are actually raising the bar in terms of who will be able to access that information. It must be at superintendent level and grounds must be given to show why the information is needed. It is a higher bar. Under the Bill, there are more safeguards and less information, or less time for which information will be retained.