Victor Boyhan: Backing Garda Facial-Recognition Bill

Thank you, Comhairleach, I wish I could say the same, but no, I'm very positively disposed to this legislation. Firstly, I want to thank the Minister for giving his comprehensive statement to us. I sort of smiled with somewhat delight when I heard the Minister saying, you know, pointing out again further elements for the programme of government and the commitments and he's driving them through. So, clearly this is a Minister with intent and has clearly got a reforming zeal and is also keeping one eye on the programme of government, which I think is encouraging. I don't think any other Minister has ever come in here to us in the last year and a half and talked about the programme of government in terms of referencing it off the to-do list as you have. So, Minister, well done and it's great to see that you're clearly very focused on that. I suppose I just want to start at the very outset by to say that the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice carried out an extensive paper, pre-legislative scrutiny on this Bill. There are elements that have changed clearly and I want to acknowledge Senator McDougall, Senator Gallagher and Senator Ruan, who were on that committee. They made 32 recommendations. It's worth looking at the analysis of those recommendations as compared to the Bill that we see before us today. For that point, I want to then thank the Oireachtas Library Research Team. Minister, I don't know if you've seen yet their report. I think it's a really good report. I think every Minister should always see the Oireachtas Library Research because they've done an analysis on the 32 recommendations in the report. I can now confirm to you that they've broken it up into four statuses. They say that the key issues have clearly been accepted and reflected in the Bill amount to four. Other areas, adoption of current issues, haven't really been brought into play. But out of that, they raised that. I think they're interesting points and what I would like to say is that I intend looking at one or two amendments but before I do so, I hope I can engage directly with your Department, Minister, because I believe in being proactive with the Department rather than coming in here. It's only as a last resort in relation to this. So it may be an issue of clarification. So I want to draw your attention to, one, to thank the Library Research Team for the work that they've done, extensive work. It aids us in analysing legislation. That's what they're there for and I want to thank them. I want to draw that back to the Minister's attention. This document was carried out by Karen McLoughlin, Senior Parliamentary Researcher, and is dated the 16th of December 2025. I think it's also interesting to look at a number of submissions, Minister, and I'm going to draw just reference to them but rather than talk about them. There was a very interesting submission from the Law Society, a particularly interesting one from the Rape Crisis Network of Ireland, a submission from An Garda Síochána and there were interesting issues there. And of particular interest was a submission by the Data Protection Commissioner, also by Safe Ireland, and finally by the Irish Council of Civil Liberties. There were many more but these were the six or seven that I took out and read and I think there's some really key issues there. So I don't think we're that far apart. Facial recognition clearly is about technology. Data protection and impact assessment you've dealt with in your statement to us today. Legislation and the code of practice is clearly really important. And of course what do we want at the end of all this legislation, Minister? We want to ensure for the Irish citizens that there are high standards that the public can expect of An Garda Síochána and I know that An Garda Síochána are commissioned to. So I think it's about confidence in a system that isn't subject to or open to abuse. But I draw, I reference those particular submissions to you. I have a few, only a few amendments in mind and I'm a pragmatist at best but I'd like to maybe work with your officials next week, send a draft of them and maybe they will be able to clarify some of those points and that would be very helpful. But I wish you well, Minister, on this important legislation. I understand the significance of embracing innovation and technology and at the end of the day what you said to us last night in another debate within your brief, there are a lot of very dangerous and sinister people out there and we have to use all technologies in terms of identifying and exposing and bringing people to justice and bringing people to account and that ranges from sexual offences, you know, rape, intimidation, blackmail, all sorts of other issues. So An Garda Síochána, when we talk about smarter Gardaí we need, you know, it's about being smart and it doesn't necessarily mean, Garda on the streets don't necessarily mean everything for people. I finish on this to say that it's always important, while nothing deters crime, we must always go back to community and we need to get under the skin of why so many crimes are happening but that's for another day. But Minister, I wish you well. We're going to embrace technology and innovation and if that aids and makes this a safer place for our citizens then that has to be the right thing to do. Thank you.