Vol. 515 No. 6
8 Mr. Belton asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the cost, capability and intended usage of new surveillance equipment for the Garda Síochána as referred to in a newspaper article (details supplied). [6739/00]
This House will appreciate that, for obvious reasons, it is not my practice – nor was it that of my predecessors – to comment on the interception of communications other than to confirm that such interception is governed by the provisions of the Interception of Postal Packets and Telecommunications Messages (Regulation) Act, 1993. The operation of the Act is kept under review by the President of the High Court, who is the designated judge for that purpose under section 8 of the Act.
The newspaper article referred to in the question appears to have been based on material contained in my Department's Progress Report on its Strategy Statement, 1998-2000, a copy of which was passed to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Equality Defence and Women's Rights in August 1999, and which was subsequently forwarded to the Library in September 1999 and also posted on the Department's Internet site.
What is at issue is simply the provision of updated technical equipment. It would not be appropriate to comment on the capability and intended usage of this equipment except to confirm that its usage will obviously be within the terms of the 1993 Act. It is estimated that the capital costs on the Garda Vote will be of the order of £850,000.
