Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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101. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of persons taken to the complaint referee under the Interception of Postal Packets and Telecommunications Messages (Regulation) Act 1993 and the Criminal Justice (Surveillance) Act 2009; and the number of complaints that were upheld. [24121/17]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The Interception of Postal Packets and Telecommunications Messages (Regulation) Act 1993 and the Criminal Justice (Surveillance) Act 2009 provide for dedicated and independent judicial oversight mechanisms, including a complaints mechanism. Anyone who believes they have been the victim of improper use of this legislation may make a complaint to the Complaints Referee. The Complaints Referee is Judge John Hannan, a serving judge of the Circuit Court.

The Complaints Referee is independent in the exercise of his functions and by law may have access to any records he deems relevant and any relevant person must, by law, give the Judge any relevant information in their possession. The Complaints Referee is completely independent in the performance of his functions under the Acts. He is not required to produce a general or annual report or statistical information in respect of his functions.

The Acts require that if the Complaints Referee finds in the course of an investigation that the powers in the Acts have been contravened he must, inter alia, make a report of his findings to the Taoiseach. I have no record that any such report has been made.