Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 11 July 2023
77. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Justice in regard to the Communications (Retention of Data) (Amendment) Act 2022, which has recently come into operation, if she can outline in detail her interactions with the National Security Committee chaired by the Secretary General of the Department of an Taoiseach; the instructions and/or guidance she received from it; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33471/23]
View answerThe National Security Committee is chaired by the Secretary General to the Government and comprises relevant senior officials from my Department and the Departments of Defence, Foreign Affairs, Environment, Communications and Climate along with senior representatives from An Garda Síochána and the Defence Forces. The Committee is concerned with ensuring that the Taoiseach and Government are briefed on cross-cutting national security issues.
As the Deputy will appreciate, t he work of the National Security Committee is, by its very nature, highly confidential and it is the long-standing policy not to discuss it in detail.
I would like to assure the Deputy that, as Minister for Justice, I am briefed regularly by the Garda Commissioner and by my officials on matters relating to the security of the State.
As the Deputy will be aware, I applied to the High Court for an order under section 3A of the Communications (Retention of Data) Act 2011 (as amended by the 2022 Act) which was granted on 26 June 2023.
The order requires service providers to retain data in all of the categories specified in Schedule 2 of the 2011 Act for a period of 12 months from the date of the making of the order. The data concerned is communications meta data and includes subscriber, traffic and location data. However as the Act makes clear, it does not apply to the content of any communications.
As set out in the order (as notified to service providers and publicised in the national media) the Court granted the order on being satisfied on the basis of information provided to it , that a number of serious and genuine, present and foreseeable threats to the security of the State exist such that the order is necessary and proportionate for the purpose of safeguarding that security. The sworn information was based on my assessment of the threat, taking into account the impact of such retention on the fundamental rights of individuals. My assessment was informed by inputs from An Garda Síochána, other relevant security information available to me, and information within my knowledge having regard to my ministerial responsibilities.
As also required by the legislation, the application was made on an ex parte basis and was heard in camera.
I hope the Deputy will appreciate that, the application and proceedings concern sensitive matters - both the nature of the assessed threat and the manner in which the retention of the data - and ultimately, where necessary, access to that data by the competent bodies can assist in combatting that threat. For sound reasons of national security it is not, therefore, possible for me to go into detail on the specific threats grounding the application to the Court.
I would like to assure the Deputy that the Garda Commissioner and other responsible authorities are fully alert to the threats concerned and are taking any necessary and appropriate action to deal with them.
