Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 44:

In page 21, line 19, after "the" where it firstly occurs to insert "technological specifications,".

Here goes. Everyone should fasten their seatbelts. The Bill provides that the Garda and local authorities can apply to the Garda Commissioner for approval for CCTV in public places. This amendment seeks to insert a safeguard in the Bill that would make it mandatory for a member of the Garda to state the technological and software specifications of cameras to be used when they are applying for a CCTV scheme in a public place.

Amendment No. 50, separately, makes the same provision in regard to applications made by local authorities for CCTV schemes in their area. Not all CCTV cameras work in the same way and not all software that is used to gather, process or analyse recorded visual data does this in the same way. It is important that the Commissioner would know exactly what a particular camera is capable of before he or she would authorise its use. I frequently feel the same when I buy a mobile phone.

On Committee Stage the Minister advised that it would be at the Commissioner's discretion as to whether or not the technical and software specifications shall be included in the application process. I think it is simply too important a matter to be left to the Commissioner of the day, in particular when technological developments advance as rapidly as they do in contemporary life. Facial recognition and AI are technological developments that we would have found hard to comprehend a number of years ago but that have both already become deeply ingrained in our day to day life.

This amendment has not gone into any great detail about the types of technology or software that should be permitted or not within a scheme. It simply says that the Commissioner should be furnished with information about what the cameras within a scheme are capable of. I think it is a modest amendment but an important safeguard and I hope the Minister of State will accept it.

Amendment No. 45 seeks that the following text would be inserted in the Bill between lines 20 and 21: "state the means by which the public and local residents will be appropriately notified of the use of cameras and their relevant rights".

To reiterate the importance of this amendment in respect of CCTV schemes, when CCTV is introduced in a particular area it is often in proximity to homes, schools and local shops, etc. A person living in the area becomes subject to daily surveillance as they drop their kids to school, go to do their shopping, etc. The least that would be expected from the State in this regard is that when such intrusive surveillance is introduced into an area that those living in the area are given proper notice of their privacy rights and the extent of the surveillance that is being carried out, for example, by being shown a map of the cameras in the area. Whether this is done via a public meeting, a notice board or online we have left to the discretion of the Minister. The amendment is not prescriptive in that regard but it is a matter of respect to communities that they should be properly informed when the State chooses to introduce daily surveillance into their lives, which affects their lives.

Amendment No. 50 seeks to insert: "In page 22, line 16, after "the" where it firstly occurs to insert "technological specifications,"." As noted, this amendment has similar intent to amendment No. 44 but relates specifically to applications by local authorities for authorisation for CCTV in public places. Any application for authorisation should outline the precise technological and software capabilities of the cameras to be used for the reasons to which I have already spoken.

Amendment No. 51 would insert the following text: "state the means by which the public and local residents will be appropriately notified of the use of cameras and their relevant rights" between lines 17 and 18 on page 22. There is no need for me to speak to any degree on this amendment as it is identical to amendment No. 45, except that it relates to the CCTV schemes of local authorities. I again reiterate the importance of respect for communities and of making sure that they are adequately informed about surveillance which impacts them.