Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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314. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if he plans to roll out live facial recognition technology as a policing tactic; the safeguards that will be put in place to protect the privacy and civil liberties of the public; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18323/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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An Garda Síochána needs modern tools and equipment to protect people from harm and save lives.

The Programme for Government includes a commitment to allow for the use of biometric technologies in certain, very controlled circumstances as a tool to process evidence in serious cases.

Work is well advanced on the drafting of a Bill to amend the Recording Devices Act to provide for retrospective use of biometric technologies, including facial recognition (FRT). The General Scheme of the Recording Devices (Amendment) Bill, published in 2023, provides for the ethical use of FRT in limited circumstances only.

The Bill will provide for use of FRT, but that use will be subject to regular review and the results will require further examination by a specially trained member of Garda personnel. Garda use of this technology will also be subject to codes of practice which will set out the very high standards of data protection and human rights control required.

This underscores our commitment to ensuring that use in this jurisdiction will mirror best practice from the wide range of EU Member States which are already utilising this technology.

This Bill will not provide for the use of live FRT. However, the Programme for Government commits to introduce live FRT in cases of terrorism, national security, and missing persons, with strict safeguards. This will be considered for inclusion in a subsequent Bill.