The threat of Islamist terrorism and actions taken by 'lone wolves' are of significant concern, Ireland's security watchdog has warned.
In its first report, the Independent Examiner of Security Legislation found that threats from domestic and international terrorist organisations and individuals have broadened in recent years.
The report says there is a significant risk of an Islamist terrorist attack in Ireland or on a "neighbouring jurisdiction" being planned or launched from Ireland, adding that there have been a number of such attacks in the past few years.
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The report also highlights the dangers from extreme right and extreme left-wing terrorism, the activities of hostile state, actors and the possibility of attacks from so called "lone wolves".
The report's author, Mr Justice George Birmingham, said that while the threat to the country has evolved, dissident republicans remain a real concern - 28 years after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement.
The attack by Abdullah Khan - a support of the so-called Islamic State - on two gardaí in Dublin last year and the stabbing of army chaplain Fr Paul Murphy in Galway 2024 by a teenager radicalised online highlighted the threat that Islamist terrorism poses to the State.
Mr Birmingham also pointed to significant gaps in the legislation to deal with threats.
The law to intercept modern digital communications is outdated and makes no provision for apps - such as WhatsApp, Telegram and Snapchat - and there is no legal basis to access webpages or internet browsing history through interception.
The report says legislation should be developed to allow gardaí to use electronic scanning equipment designed to locate and record data - such as international mobile subscriber identity catchers and phone eavesdropping devices - that can identify potential targets or devices of interest.
The former Court of Appeal president said that An Garda Síochána or the Defence Forces are "not cavalier" in their security and intelligence work, but recommended that authorisation for the use of tracking devices should require judicial affirmation for senior officers independent of the investigation or surveillance operation.
Read the full report here
Gardaí deployed tracking devices 47 times between April and December last year, compared to 41 times in 2024.
Revenue used them 21 times while the Defence Forces did not.
Both An Garda Síochána and the Defence Forces also made more requests to retain data last year than in 2024.
The report also says that while legislation would need to have robust safeguards to protect people's rights and privacy, it was almost impossible to argue that criminals and terrorists should enjoy immunity from having their communications accessed.
Outdated legislation includes references to telegrams - examiner
Mr Birmingham said the outdated legislation being relied on to deal with the threats is "probably most notably true" in the area of "interception of post and telecommunications" which dates from 1993.
"Perhaps an indication of the different era that it's about is that there are references to telegrams, and it's a long time since anyone was sending or receiving a telegram.
"But clearly the landscape now in terms of communciations is very different to what it was in 1993 and it's recognised and has been recognised for quite some time that there is a need for an update."
He told RTÉ's News at One that the effect of outdated legislation is that the powers to"lawfully intercept" are "effectively confined to traditional telephone calls and text messaging".
Asked what change is needed, Mr Birmingham said there "would be a view that if one forms a judgement that in a particular case an interception is appropriate, and lawful, and warranted, and proportionate, then the powers should be available, irrespective of what device the communication is taking place on or what platform."
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The Independent Examiner of Security Legislation was set up to review the operation and effectiveness of security legislation, and reports annually to the Taoiseach.
Mr Justice George Birmingham was appointed as the first examiner last October.
'Need to be alive' to threats of terrorism, says McEntee
Minister for Defence Helen McEntee said Ireland needs "to be alive" to threats of terrorism, following the publication of the report.
Ms McEntee said it has been "the case for some time" in Ireland and across the world that "there is capacity for individuals to pose a risk in a way that hadn't been the case before".
Speaking in Co Kerry, the minister said it is known that "people can be radicalised online, we know that people can act on their own or they can be connected in ways like never before".
"So we need to be alive to these threats, and I know that the gardaí and the work that they do and the teams that they have, this is something that they monitor and that they monitor very carefully."
The minister added: "We've seen things happen already in this country, and it's about making sure that we have the capacity to respond, and again, that we're working closely whether it's with European colleagues, whether it's international colleagues in identifying these risks and being able to respond to them, if they happen."
Associate professor at UCD and Chair of the Digital Rights Alliance, TJ McIntyre, said: "Police have never had more investigative data available to them."
Speaking on RTÉ's Today with David McCullagh, he said: "In a way we're in an unusual situation now where police have never had more investigative data available to them, so taken as a whole we leave a lot of digital traces behind us whether it be on CCTV or on our own devices and so on."
He said there is more available for investigations than was ever there previously.
