The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Mr Dermot Ahern,
T.D., has published the Communications (Retention of Data) Bill 2009.
The Bill implements Directive 2006/24/EC of the European Parliament and the
Council into Irish Law. The Bill will ensure that our legislation on the
retention of data will be similar to that in all other Member States of the EU
and 3 member countries of the European Economic Area, which are also bound by
the Directive.
The Directive obliges service providers to retain telephone and Internet data
for a period of between 2 years and 6 months. Minister Ahern said: “Following
extensive consultations with An Garda Síochána and the service providers, I
have decided that telephone data should be retained for 2 years, that is, a
reduction from 3 years, and internet data for 12 months. I am satisfied that
these are the minimum periods required by An Garda Síochána and the Permanent Defense
Force to ensure that the Gardaí have the means to fight crime, including
gangland crime, and for the Gardaí and Defense Force to safeguard the security
of the State.
It is also essential that the Revenue Commissioners be in a position to
investigate revenue offences that are often aimed at defrauding the State.
Information from retained data is also important in ensuring a secure
environment for doing business in Ireland.”
The Bill will consolidate the existing provisions at Part 7 of the Criminal
Justice (Terrorist Offences) Act 2005 and the requirements of the Directive in
relation to the retention of Internet data.
The Bill provides that a member of An Garda Síochána not below the rank of
chief superintendent may request a service provider to disclose to that member
data that is required for:
The
prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of serious offences.
Safeguarding
the security of the State.
The saving
of human life.
It will also allow an officer of the Permanent Defense Force not below the rank
of colonel to request data in the interests of safeguarding the security of the
State and an officer of the Revenue Commissioners not below the rank of
principal officer to request data for the prevention, detection, investigation
and prosecution of specified revenue offences.
The Minister also said that he had given much consideration to how “serious
offence” should be defined for the purpose of data retention. He expressed
satisfaction that confining offences that could be prosecuted on indictment for
the purpose of offences for which a disclosure request could be made was, on
balance, the fairest option that would allow An Garda Síochána to investigate
crime without undue restriction.
Minister Ahern continued: “The Government is committed to protecting every
citizen’s constitutional right to privacy by ensuring that the new Bill does
not allow for the content of communications to be stored or retrieved. It does
no more than provide information about the who, the where and the when of a
communication.”
In addition, the Minister also outlined further safeguards in the Bill. “The
Data Protection Commissioner will be the national supervisory authority for the
purposes of the Act. The High Court judge who oversees the operation of the
interception of communications provisions and the retention of telephone data
provisions will also oversee the operation of the Internet data provisions. In
addition, anyone who believes that data relevant to him/her has been accessed
following a disclosure request can apply to the Complaints Referee who will
investigate whether a disclosure request has been made as alleged and, if so,
whether the relevant provisions of the Act have been contravened.”
Finally, the Minister thanked the service providers for the constructive role
they played in the consultations that preceded the publication of the Bill.
The Bill is available on the Oireachtas website (www.oireachtas.ie).
