Seán Kyne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is very welcome to the House to discuss this very important area. I am sure that on Committee Stage there will be some impassioned debate on this and on some of the points that have already been raised. It is safe to say that we have seen from social media internationally the very best and the very worst of the use of CCTV and bodycam footage, as Senator Ruane has rightly highlighted. That is certainly very well known. I am sure the Minister has looked at international best practice and perhaps the Minister might be able to advise on Committee Stage what our European counterparts do. Do they operate similar processes? What best practice would they see? It is important that we learn from those police jurisdictions that are similar to our own.

Clearly this is a two-pronged issue in relation to upholding justice and upholding the rights of citizens but also protecting the members of An Garda Síochána, who certainly in any protest are the ones who are very much the subject of surveillance and very much the subject of camera phones being shoved in their faces in certain circumstances. It is quite right that they would have the equivalence of bodycam footage. Senator Ruane raised the important point about when it should be turned on and under what circumstances. This is an interesting issue and perhaps the Minister might advise internationally what is best practice in that case. Clearly, we have seen this over a long number of years in this country in other countries. Part of the problem with the prevalence of camera phones and social media means that now the life of a member of the Garda Síochána is more difficult. While being fully observed is right, in most cases, it does not make the job any easier in attracting people to it, in that is quite clear now for all to see. A person could verbally abuse gardaí, put the footage up on social media and it is there to be seen, as from certain protests around the country. It does not make it easy to attract people to the profession of An Garda Síochána. However, where there is wrongdoing by members of An Garda Síochána it is, obviously, important that it is fully investigated and that bodycam footage, or other footage, is fully utilised in those small number of incidences or where the life of a garda is threatened, and that footage is available in this case as well.

CCTV use has been controversial. There has been a void, or a lacuna, in the context of its uses under data protection. This will be provided for in the Bill. CCTV plays an important part in all aspects of crime prevention and provides a level of safety.That is not just from the point of view of retrospectively looking at the CCTV footage but also because if people know there are CCTV cameras in a locality, they will be more conscious of it and less likely to do something out of the way. That is important where that is recommended. This raises the whole issue of GDPR, however, which has been a concern for some time.

The Minister stated that under Part 5, existing community CCTV scheme authorisations can remain in force for a period of up to four years from the date of commencement of this Bill. There will have to be a period of renewal. Does renewal involve issuing a licence for a period of time or in perpetuity? How does that work in that case?

Overall, the thrust of the Bill is to seek to come to terms with the increased digitalisation of our society. There are positives and negatives involved in that. It is important that the Garda Síochána has the resources to be able to respond to and acknowledge the challenges that are there and to use technologies to fight crime and ensure that any acts of violence against a member of the Garda are and can be recorded. Individuals have rights as well. It is important, in the small number of cases in which there may be wrongdoing, that the full data will be available to victims.