2026-03-19

10. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if he will clarify the Government's position regarding potential new powers allowing An Garda Síochána to access encrypted communications and personal device data, following recent reports concerning remarks he made on the issue; and whether he will outline the safeguards that will be put in place to ensure that any expansion of interception or surveillance powers is necessary, proportionate and subject to robust oversight. [20841/26]

I thank Deputy Gannon for this interesting question. I announced recently that the Government had approved my proposal to start the process of drafting a new communications interception and lawful access Bill that will update the legislation that is there at present. We can all appreciate that there are circumstances when it is necessary and appropriate for An Garda Síochána to be able to access messages or communications between individuals when gardaí are investigating serious criminal offences. We have seen cases in our courts previously where the communication of messages between individuals has been centrally important in securing convictions for murder, serious child sexual abuse, serious armed robbery or violence. The legislation that I operate under at present was developed and enacted in 1993. It is completely outdated, and it is not just me who is saying that. The judges who conduct the reviews of the work that I conduct under that 1993 legislation have repeatedly stated that the legislation is outdated. What I am proposing to do is to bring forward legislation that will have very significant safeguards in place. That is a legitimate concern of Deputy Gannon and many others. The safeguards that I am going to ensure will be in place will be such that there will be some form of judicial authorisation of interception requests. There will also be a requirement that agencies requesting an interception will have to outline any issues regarding privileged material, should that arise in any unusual circumstances. Obviously, it is also important to be able to access encrypted messages. A lot of serious criminal activity is being communicated at present with the benefit of encryption. I need to ensure that gardaí can gain access to such encrypted messages because they contain a lot of detailed information that will be of use in the investigation of serious offences.

I understand the rationale for a measure like this. I understand that the legislation the Minister is working off is from 1993 and its drafters would never have foreseen the world we are in now but we need to move carefully and cautiously with a measure such as this. Some of the technology being referenced here might be developed by companies such as Pegasus, for example. In other jurisdictions, Pegasus spyware has been used as a way of monitoring political opposition and has been used unlawfully against journalists. I understand the rationale for this and we are in a very different world, but I ask the Minister, when he brings forward this legislation, to respect the process by which we can apply the right level of scrutiny. I ask him to work with organisations that can demonstrate best practice in oversight and to make sure that the Oireachtas justice committee has full sight of everything the Minister is proposing at the pre-legislative scrutiny stage. I can absolutely see why a measure like this is necessary but the world may also be very different in ten or 20 years' time. A Government ten years from now may be very different from the one we have now or next and may have a different attitude, so the careful drafting of this legislation is important.

I agree with the Deputy that any proposal like this should be considered and progressed carefully and cautiously. What we are trying to do is balance rights. The rights about which the Deputy is particularly concerned are obviously the rights of privacy, which have to be protected. We do not want to see a situation where the State is able to stick its nose into legitimate communications that do not involve criminal activity by individuals. On the other side of the scale is the fact we need to be able to investigate serious criminal behaviour but at present we do not have access to a lot of information that would be of use in investigating serious criminal behaviour. The Deputy mentioned a number of issues in terms of type of software that can be used. That is not an issue of concern at present. I know it is an issue of concern to the Deputy and it may arise in the future but the important thing is to put in place a statutory regime that enables access in certain limited circumstances and that very strong safeguards are put in place. If strong safeguards are in place, the Deputy will not have too much to be worried about.