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Data Retention

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 12 December 2018

Wednesday, 12 December 2018

Questions (144)

Catherine Murphy

Question:

144. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the aspects of the Communications (Retention of Data) Bill 2017 he has incorporated from the Communications (Retention of Data) Act 2011; if he is satisfied it complies with advice from the European Court of Justice; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52385/18]

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Written answers

The Communications (Retention of Data) Act 2011 Act already provides for a number of the requirements identified by the European Court of Justice.  The current Act provides that data can only be accessed by specific agencies where the data is required for the prevention, detection, investigation or prosecution of a serious offence, the safeguarding of the security of the State or the saving of human life. Additional safeguards provided for in the legislation to protect the data in question include data security provisions, data destruction provisions and restrictions on access to retained data. The legislation also provides for oversight of its operation by a High Court Judge who reports to the Taoiseach at least annually (with discretion to report more frequently) and for a complaints referee (a Circuit Court judge) to deal with the concerns of any person who believes that their data may have been unlawfully accessed in breach of the Act. These safeguards have been retained in the revised draft legislation.

 The draft Communications (Retention of Data) Bill, which is currently being finalised, will respond to the relevant European Court of Justice rulings –

- by providing for Ministerial authorisation for the retention by service providers of targeted categories of traffic and location data for the purpose of the prevention, detection, investigation or prosecution of serious crime or safeguarding the security of the State;

- by requiring judicial authorisation for disclosure of retained data to the Garda Síochána and other agencies;

- by providing for the data concerned to be held for a 13 month period and for that data to be held in the EU;

- by providing for notification of persons whose data have been disclosed when such notification is unlikely to jeopardise the investigation of an offence or to undermine the security of the State,

The judgment in a recent High Court case regarding provisions in the 2011 Act will also be examined by my Department and by the Garda authorities in conjunction with the Office of the Attorney General to identify the important points arising and to inform the work being finalised  

I am satisfied that this will ensure compliance with the European Court of Justice rulings and I expect that the Bill will be published early in 2019. 

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