Future rioters could face 10-year prison sentence under new laws

Bill will allow gardaí to use Facial Recognition Technology in specific circumstances and more heavily punish those who take part in riots and violent disorder

A Garda car set on fire during the Dublin riots. Picture Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin

Participants in future riots could face a 10-year prison sentence or an unlimited fine under new laws.

Justice Minister Helen McEntee has received Government approval to publish the General Scheme of the Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) (Amendment) Bill 2023. 

It will allow An Garda Síochána to use Facial Recognition Technology (FRT) in specific circumstances and more heavily punish those who take part in riots and violent disorder.

Ms McEntee said that FRT will "save thousands of Garda hours by allowing the use of biometric identification to retrospectively search CCTV".

In light of the riots in Dublin city centre last month, Ms McEntee has also secured Cabinet approval for the offences of riot and violent disorder to be included in the proposed scope of FRT. 

The maximum penalty for each of these offences is an unlimited fine, a prison sentence of up to 10 years, or both.

In addition to asking the Oireachtas justice committee to conduct pre-legislative scrutiny, Ms McEntee will now ask the committee to consider an additional list of serious offences for possible inclusion in the schedule of offences in the bill including sexual assault, non fatal assault, and criminal damage to property. 

The Green Party has said that it has agreed to a separate, standalone bill allowing retrospective use of FRT in serious cases if it is subject to pre-legislative scrutiny.

Ms McEntee said there has been "an explosion in the use of digital data in criminal investigations, and that without adequate data analysis tools, the length of criminal investigations will increase".

“We are already seeing gardaí having to trawl through thousands of hours of CCTV — 12,000 hours in the case of the Dublin riots. 

Justice Minister Helen McEntee said Facial Recognition Technology will dramatically save time, speed up investigations, and free up Garda resources. Picture: Gareth Chaney/ Collins Photos

"Facial Recognition Technology will dramatically save time, speed up investigations, and free up Garda resources for the high visibility policing we all want to see.

“Reducing the amount of time it takes gardaí to go through video footage will be of particular help where time is of the essence following a very serious crime being committed.

The draft bill will allow for retrospective searches of images which are legally in the possession of gardaí and can only be used where:

• A serious offence is suspected;
• The use of biometric identification is "necessary and proportionate" in that specific case;
• Each particular use of biometric identification is authorised in writing in advance by a chief superintendent.

The Government decision has expanded this to include riot and public disorder. 

The use of facial recognition can only be in the context of the prevention, investigation, detection or prosecution of one or more of the criminal offences listed in the schedule or for the protection of the security of the State.

The scheme of the bill will now be submitted to the joint Oireachtas committee on justice for pre-legislative scrutiny and to the Office of Parliamentary Counsel for drafting.

The Irish Council for Civil Liberties has said the technology carries "significant and robust scientific evidence demonstrating accuracy and bias concerns, which have led to people being mistaken for someone else and being wrongly arrested".