Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Addressing the Deputy Leader, last week in the Chamber I raised significant concerns on Second Stage of the Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Bill which would grant powers to an Garda Síochána to use body cameras. Sometimes, I feel like I am a bit of lone voice in how concerned I am about how these can be used and abused. Specifically, I argued that the absence of rights-based provisions in the Bill for civilians who come into contact with body cameras meant that the Bill was not fit for purpose. The Bill leaves the use of the recording devices to the absolute discretion of gardaí who may or may not operate the cameras based solely on their own reasonable beliefs about a given situation. By contrast, a civilian has no right to request that a body camera be turned on if they themselves feel threatened by a garda.

Two days after I gave that speech, the BBC published the results of a two-year investigation into misuse of body cameras by the police in the UK. The investigation found that police are widely misusing body-worn cameras. It found that 150 reports of abuse were made where police officers are switching off their body-worn cameras when force is used, as well as deleting footage and sharing videos of vulnerable persons in WhatsApp groups. I encourage everybody to read that investigation in full before this Bill comes back into the Chamber as it seems to confirm the very risks I highlighted. I have written to the Minister about this and have asked her to look at the reports of the abuses which have come out in the UK in respect of this.

In the correspondence, I highlighted that the Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Bill, as currently drafted, risks creating a regulatory environment around body cameras which is very similar to that of the UK and, therefore, subject to similar risks. For example, police use of body cameras in the UK is governed by a code of practice which is very similar to the code of practice proposed in the Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Bill, which is also a code of practice we have not yet fully seen, and we are told that it will be published as the Bill progresses. We have not even seen the codes of practice.

The fact the police in the UK are breaking their code of practice so widely hardly inspires confidence that such a code would be effective in preventing misconduct here in Ireland. Before that Bill comes in, I urge people to look at that report because it clarified somewhat the concerns I had with the use of body cameras. It shows how easily they can be misused, and that a civilian does not have the same rights as to how that recording device is used. The Minister's response at the time was that the gardaí would have to explain why they did not turn the device on. That seems a bit weak and does not explain the position because at the end of the day, whether they explain it or not, the evidence is still changed and the information is still not there. This is something we should all look into with regard to that report by the BBC which came out last week.