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

It is any information. It is anything they come across in the course of their duties, whether a case they are working on or a case somebody else is working on. This covers all of the issues. It is already a criminal offence. I do not want to repeat what is already a criminal offence in another Act. It is there, it is established and it has been in place since 2005.I fully agree with the Senator in that the issues with social media, end-to-end encryption and WhatsApp messages are problematic for so many reasons. At European level, we are trying to work with and combat so much harmful content, from that related to child sexual abuse to that related to assault and rape. I am referring to everything that is moved around via social media. The online safety commission has been established here. It is the first of its kind across Europe. We are a flagship in that regard. This is about removing harmful and illegal content. We are doing a lot of work in this area but it is challenging, particularly where there is end-to-end encryption and where, for some reason, people like to share the material in question. I, like many, do not like to pass on, share or see content of the kind in question that comes my way, but sometimes you cannot help it when it is sent to you. I absolutely believe that what the Senator is talking about is already covered by the law, but I can have the relevant legislation sent to her for the sake of certainty.

On the matter of turning cameras on and off, I absolutely agree that a person's life can be changed by one incident, but this applies both ways. At the moment, gardaí do not have the ability to gain a clear picture of what happens. So often, the use of camera phones gives us a distorted picture of what happens. It is a matter of balancing and ensuring that gardaí are protected, while also ensuring that individuals are protected. Again, I point to an issue that has been raised with me time and again, namely, domestic violence. Gardaí are the first on the scene, so the first few moments they capture are absolutely vital. It is not just about protecting gardaí but also about protecting the people around them. For those reasons, I am not accepting the amendment. It is an operational issue. We need the Garda to be able to work through how it would operate, or not. I hope the fact that so many people will be involved in the process, ourselves included, will give some assurance that any lessons that should be learned from other jurisdictions will be learned. I agree with Senator Ward that we should not compare our police service with those in the US or elsewhere. At the same time, however, we can benefit from learning about the mistakes they have made and ensure that the structures are absolutely watertight in order that those mistakes will not be made here and that there will be recourse where people do cross the line.