The Green Party will not back a renewed call from Minister for Justice Simon Harris to support legislation which would pave the way for gardaí to use facial recognition technology (FRT).
In his last day in the Justice portfolio, before Helen McEntee returns from maternity leave, the minister insisted that FRT must be included in plans to allow gardaí use bodycams.
Minister Harris believes that gardaí cannot wait any longer for this technology.
This evening, the Green Party said it fully backed the original legislation to allow gardaí access to bodycams.
"However, the party is not supportive of Minister Harris' proposal to amend the original bodycams bill in order to allow the use of a form of artificial intelligence known as facial recognition technology, which has proved controversial in other countries," a Government spokesperson for the Green Party said.
They added that the party was not ruling out the introduction of a limited form of FRT, but it should be introduced in a standalone bill, which would then be studied by an Oireachtas committee.
"The committee would be able to invite experts in this complex area to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of FRT and its implications for both policing and privacy.
"Such a move would allow the existing bodycam legislation to proceed as originally intended while avoiding taking a rushed approach towards the extremely sensitive area of FRT," they said.
