THE GOVERNMENT IS to expand controversial legislation for facial recognition technology (FRT) in response to the Dublin riot, The Journal has learned.  

A source has said that Helen McEntee, the Minister for Justice, has told legal officials in her department to include riot and violent disorder in the new legislation.

The draft facial recognition technology law will be ready to be approved by Government within weeks.

The FRT legislation is due to go through pre-legislative scrutiny before being finalised, which means it could be next year at the earliest before it comes into effect.

It has been confirmed to The Journal that the legislation will indeed go through pre-legislative scrutiny

There was disagreement in recent months between Fine Gael and the Green Party over plans to legislate for facial recognition technology (FRT), with a decision made to proceed separately with the roll out of bodycams for gardaí and to introduce FRT through standalone legislation.

Pressure is mounting on McEntee and the Garda Commissioner Drew Harris in recent days around their handling of the Far Right and policing in general.  

While law drafters in the department have been working on the legislation McEntee has now told her officials to expand the reach of the proposed laws. This will give gardaí more power to use the technology in their investigations.

A source with knowledge of the plan said the Minister is of the view that garda investigators should not be required to manually trawl through footage.

It has emerged that a team of gardaí are having to trawl through 6,000 hours of CCTV to identify suspects in the riot and the subsequent looting.

This is normal in murder and other investigations into serious crime where a team of investigators examine hours of footage to identify suspects. 

Gardaí then circulate images to officers across the country seeking identities for people they suspect of involvement. 

McEntee met with the Garda Commissioner Drew Harris and operational gardaí in recent days and she has now directed her team in the department to move forward with more robust legislation. 

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said she supported the gardaí but not the Minister or Garda Commissioner.

Her statement comes following similar expressions of no confidence from the Social Democrats.

The latest move to strengthen legislation comes as McEntee met with Drew Harris and frontline Gardaí in recent days.

A Government source said that discussions in the Department have circled around an acceptance that “gardaí must not have their hands tied behind their backs” while carrying out investigations. 

The source added that the riot has brought a realisation for the Minister and her officials in the Department of Justice that gardaí need to be given more robust legal tools to confront the rioters. 

The draft law already being worked on will provide Gardaí on with new powers to identify and track the movements of suspects in relation to crimes, including murder, terrorism, child sexual abuse and rape.

The offence of riot carries a maximum penalty of an unlimited fine, a prison sentence of up to 10 years, or both. Violent disorder is similar to the offence of riot and carries the same penalty.

It is understood that the gardaí will, with the legislation, now get technology already used by international organisations Interpol and Europol.

The issue of facial recognition technology for gardaí faces serious opposition.

Opposition

The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) said previously it is “strongly opposed” to the technology being used by law enforcement, and said that An Garda Síochána has a “poor record on data protection”.

The ICCL previously called for a ban on the police use of facial-recognition technology, arguing that it poses an “extreme risk to rights.”

There has also been opposition from some academics, at an ICCL organised event, who believe it is open to abuse by police. 

ICCL Executive Director Liam Herrick said this morning that the Justice Minister had agreed to draft a separate ‘Heads of Bill’ from scratch which will have to go through pre-legislative scrutiny and all stages in Oireachtas, stating “That is still the case”.

Members of the Green Party, which is a party in the current Government, has voiced opposition also. 

A source familiar with the drafting of the laws claimed that the new legislation will have “strong safeguards and protections” to prevent abuses.

This will include measures that the technology can only be used after a crime and following prior authorisation – its use will be overseen by a High Court judge.

A spokesperson for the Green Party today said the party has “always supported giving Gardaí access to cutting-edge technology in order to fight crime as long as the proper safeguards are in place”.

They said: “The party gave its backing to the original bill to give Gardaí access to bodycams and also agreed to a separate, stand-alone bill that would allow for the retrospective use of Facial Recognition Technology in serious cases, provided this was subject to pre-legislative scrutiny.”

“We await the full details of the extra categories of offences that Minister McEntee proposes to allow FRT be used to help investigate,” they added.

The introduction of FRT is part of a broader plan by McEntee to equip Gardaí with state of the art digital technology in the fight against crime and criminality.

The Recording Devices Bill, which provides for Garda Bodycams, Garda CCTV and community CCTV, will be completed by the Minister in the Dáil this Wednesday.