Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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578. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the position regarding draft legislation regarding the proposed use of facial recognition technology; the timeline for when this Bill will be progressed; if it will be subject to pre-legislative scrutiny; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35852/25]

Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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579. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the position regarding the way in which any concerns related to data protection and civil rights will be addressed in legislation related to facial recognition technology; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35854/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 578 and 579 together.

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 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 certain retrospective use of biometric technologies, including facial recognition technology (FRT). The General Scheme of the Recording Devices (Amendment) Bill was published in 2023 and underwent pre-legislative scrutiny by the Oireachtas Justice committee in February 2024, during which experts from across this complex area discussed its provisions.

The Bill will provide for the use of FRT, but there will be human intervention by a 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. The Codes will also have to be approved by the Houses of the Oireachtas. All of the safeguards which attach to the processing of special category personal data under the Data Protection Act 2018 will have to be observed.

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 and will be in full conformity with overarching EU law in this area.

This Bill will not provide for the use of live FRT at this stage. However, the Programme for Government commits to introduce live FRT in cases of terrorism, national security, and missing persons, with strict safeguards and I intend to bring forward proposals in this regard in due course.