Garda Síochána (Amendment) Act 2015

Amendment of Interception of Postal Packets and Telecommunications Messages (Regulation) Act 1993

12. The Interception of Postal Packets and Telecommunications Messages (Regulation) Act 1993 is amended—

(a) in section 1, by the insertion of the following definition:

“ ‘the chairperson of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission’ means the member of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission who is appointed or acting as its chairperson under section 65 of the Garda Síochána Act 2005 ;”,

(b) in section 4(a) —

(i) in subparagraph (i)(I), by the insertion of “or the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission” after “by the Garda Síochána”,

(ii) in subparagraph (ii), by the substitution of the following clause for clause (I):

“(I) in the case of a serious offence that is apprehended but has not been committed, investigations are being carried out—

(A) for the purpose of preventing the commission of the offence, by the Garda Síochána or another public authority charged with the prevention of offences of the kind in question, or

(B) for the purpose of enabling the offence to be detected, if it is committed, by the Garda Síochána or the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission or another public authority charged with the investigation of offences of the kind in question,”,

(c) in section 6(1)(a), by the substitution of the following subparagraph for subparagraph (i):

“(i) in case the authorisation is for the purpose of criminal investigation, either by—

(I) the Commissioner, or

(II) the chairperson of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, and”,

(d) in section 7, by the insertion of “, the chairperson of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission” after “the Commissioner”, and

(e) in section 10(2)(d)(i), by the insertion of “or any person engaged by the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission under section 74 of the Garda Síochána Act 2005 who is designated by it under section 73 of that Act to perform functions under any provisions of Part 4 of that Act” after “the Garda Síochána”.