An Garda Síochána is to immediately begin the process of procuring body worn cameras for frontline members, according to Minister for Justice Helen McEntee.
Minister McEntee made the announcement after a Cabinet meeting today.
However, the availability of facial recognition technology (FRT) to gardaí will be delayed and legislated for separately.
It follows disagreement in recent months between Government parties over plans to legislate for FRT using an amendment to the proposed laws on bodycams.
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The Green Party had opposed the inclusion of FRT within the legislation, saying it warranted a separate bill to allow for increased pre-legislative scrutiny.
Fine Gael ministers, including Simon Harris who was covering for Minister McEntee until recent weeks while she was on maternity leave, had sought its inclusion.
Minister McEntee said in a statement that a bill on FRT will now be drafted "on a priority basis" and is expected to be published by the end of the year.
It will be examined by the Oireachtas Justice Committee, which will invite experts to provide additional perspective.
She said the bill would allow gardaí to use FRT on a retrospective basis only, to investigate "the most serious crimes which are subject to a maximum sentence of life imprisonment".
Such crimes include murder, rape, child sexual abuse and abduction.
"Gardaí will make the final decisions on the use of evidence identified using FRT," Minister McEntee said, adding "there will be no automated decision-making".
"I firmly believe that bodycams and FRT are required to ensure that An Garda Síochána is a fully equipped, modern police service operating in a digital age, but I also acknowledge that some people hold legitimate concerns around the use of such technology."
A statement from the minister said no additional powers to collect, retain or process images are to be proposed. The scraping of open-source images from social media will not be permitted, nor will the purchase of commercial databases against which FRT could be run.
Green Party Justice Spokesperson Patrick Costello said he was "glad that Minister McEntee has listened to Green Party concerns that the introduction of FRT shouldn’t be rushed".
"A standalone bill will allow the justice committee to analyse the proposal carefully to ensure we don’t make any mistakes that could undermine the public's relationship with the gardaí."
The party's Waterford TD, Marc Ó Cathasaigh, said the proposed standalone bill would only allow for FRT to be used "in very narrow circumstances".
"It will also prevent gardaí from using FRT to analyse live footage of people going about their normal businesses."
The minister said Garda Commissioner Drew Harris will begin tendering for the purchase of body worn cameras, which will include Facial Recognition Technology (FRT) software, "to ensure they can also be fully used in line with the new bill to be drafted".
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The commissioner had previously said he was a supporter of the use of such cameras, telling a meeting of the Oireachtas Justice Committee that "it provides quick evidence, but it can also settle situations down if people who would be otherwise disruptive realise that all of this is being recorded on camera".
