Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 21 May 2003

Vol. 567 No. 2

Written Answers. - Data Retention.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh

Ceist:

246 Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the date that the data retention regime was authorised by the former Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Employment in April 2002; if this order will be made public; if the directive applied to all traffic data; if not, the data to which it does apply; the persons under whose supervision the data is being collected; the persons to whom this data is available; the circumstances under which; if this regime is open-ended or renewable; the renewal date in the latter case; the persons monitoring this system for abuse; and if an annual report on the operation of the directive will be published. [14062/03]

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. McDowell)

I refer the Deputy to my reply to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 135 to 139 of 6 March 2003.

The directions were made on 25 April 2002. The nature of the directions has been made public. They apply to "traffic data", which is defined as any data processed by the licensed operator in connection with transmitting or receiving a telecommunication message on a telecommunications network or charging for it and, includes, in relation to any such message, data concerning: its routing, duration or time; the location of the sender's or recipient's terminal equipment; the network on which the message originates or terminates; and the beginning, end or duration of its connection to the network.

The retention of the data is a matter for the licensed operators. The replies which I mentioned earlier dealt with access to the data. The directions do not include an expiry date. The data in question is subject to data protection legislation. It is not proposed to issue an annual report on the operation of the directions.