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

We are talking about applying this to any type of investigation relating to an arrestable offence or matters relating to security of the State. The three-month cut-off where one would have to go to a judge afterwards is a maximum. The intention is that there would be less than three months applied where one is specifically focused on targeting a particular individual relating to a particular case. If a judge has to be sought for every single case of this kind across the country in every jurisdiction, it is timely, prohibitive and not proportionate to what we are talking about here. Regarding anything beyond three months, it is clear that one would have to go to a District Court judge and outline the clear reasons this should be applied beyond three months. The intention is that it would not even go as far as the three months for any particular case. It has to go through a certain level of checks within An Garda Síochána to the superior rank. We need to be proportionate and not prevent the Garda from being able to act swiftly and respond quickly to an issue or incident as it arises. Having to go to a District Court judge for every possible arrestable offence can be prohibitive and can delay certain things for the Garda in gathering evidence.