Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Question 165: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his views on the fact that more than 10,000 requests were made by the Gardaí during 2006 under the Criminal Justice (Terrorist Offences) Act 2005 for access to personal telephone records; if he accepts the view of the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner that such a number of applications suggests that innocent people are having their private records pored over; the breakdown of the requests submitted in regard to those arising from investigation into terrorist offences,drugs offences and other serious offences; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22486/07]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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In the first instance, the figure of 10,000 requests for access to telecommunications traffic and location data made by the Garda Síochána in 2006, as claimed by the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner, is a self-described 'estimate' and not a factual description. In this regard, it is not the practice and it would be contrary to the public interest to disclose the details of data access requests, including their number or the types of offences to which they relate.

The retention of and access to such data are governed by the provisions of Part 7 of the Criminal Justice (Terrorist Offences) Act 2005. Part 7 provides that access requests to telecommunications service providers may only be made for the purposes of:

the prevention, detection, investigation or prosecution of crime; or

the safeguarding of the security of the State.

The Garda Síochána makes such requests only where these conditions apply and only after they have been filtered by senior Garda officers; not all requests by investigating Gardaí result in requests to the telecommunications service providers.

I categorically reject any suggestion that these provisions are being or have been used to improperly intrude upon the privacy of any person, innocent or otherwise.

Part 7 of the 2005 Act also introduced — for the first time — robust accountability arrangements and counter-balancing safeguards to protect personal data. These arrangements include a statutory complaints procedure overseen by a Judge of the Circuit Court, as well as a statutory oversight procedure overseen by a 'designated judge', who must be a serving Judge of the High Court.

The designated judge's first annual report into the operation of Part 7, dated 20 March, 2007, as laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas, found 'that the provisions of the legislation are being maintained and in particular that the provisions of the Act of 2005 are not being used for routine Garda inquiries and investigations'.