Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy has noted, Ireland signed up to the Joint Statement on Efforts to Counter the Proliferation and Misuse of Commercial Spyware in advance of the third Summit for Democracy in the Republic of Korea held in March of this year.

Upon joining the Department of Foreign Affairs issued a national statement which made clear Ireland’s commitment to curbing the proliferation of commercial spyware that has been, or risks being, misused by authoritarian regimes and in democracies.

These technologies can play a legitimate and important role in supporting the work of law enforcement agencies and security services when they are used in a manner that is consistent with respect for human rights, the rule of law and democratic principles.

The Deputy will appreciate that for security and operational reasons it is not the practice to comment on the specific means used by An Garda Siochana under the relevant statutes, i.e., the Interception of Postal Packets and Telecommunications Messages (Regulation) Act 1993 and the Criminal Justice (Surveillance) Act 2009.

As the Deputy is aware, the operation of both Acts is overseen independently by serving Judges of the High Court who are designated by the Government for this purpose and report to the Taoiseach. In carrying out their functions, the Designated Judges have, by law, full access to all persons and records they consider relevant and all relevant persons have, by law, a duty to co-operate. In addition there is a Complaints Referee who can receive and investigate complaints. In carrying out his functions, the Referee has by law full access to people and records he considers relevant to his investigations and any such person has a duty to cooperate with him.