Letters to the Editor: GDPR and red tape are slowing down criminal investigations
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The investigation and detection of crime are very important pillars which all police forces around the world rely on.
The first 24 hours of any investigation is critical. This is where witnesses and suspects are identified, arrests made if necessary. Forensics, scenes of crime, IT experts, and a host of other investigative experts, are brought to bear.
A worrying trend has emerged in the investigation of crime within An Garda Síochána.
Investigators, because of GDPR, are now forced to obtain section 10 warrants from the courts, even for minor matters, such as finding out if a suspect vehicle passed through a toll booth during or after the commission of a crime.
Heretofore a member of the force could have contacted someone in one of those toll bridges seeking information on a suspect car but gardaí are now forced to apply for a section 10 warrant, thereby delaying an investigation for up to two and four weeks.
Another major delay in the investigation of crime is where gardaí are seeking information or intelligence on suspects/suspect vehicles from our colleagues, the PSNI, on the island of Ireland.
No longer can an investigator from the force make direct contact with their opposite number to obtain that necessary intelligence or information. They now must contact the Garda Liaison Office in Garda HQ, Dublin, requesting that information. They in turn will send it to their opposite number in the PSNI, again delaying investigations.
All of the above have ensured that independent, speedy and decisive action on investigations are being delayed by, not only GDPR, but also by the bureaucratic oversight of the few in Garda HQ.
These layers of red tape are becoming a sense of frustration for investigators but also where they believe management within the force have shown very little concern by the delays caused by these barriers.
It is time that the laws that were transposed from the EU into our legislation by GDPR EU 2016/679 are now overhauled as it is now an anathema to bringing justice to the victims and the speedy investigation of crime.
With regards to liaison, why should gardaí apply to Garda HQ Dublin for assistance and not directly from their own divisional offices to counterparts abroad?
This type of bureaucratic red tape is nonsensical and has no place in investigations.
I despair, and I’m concerned at the direction we are going, and that we have a Government and senior Garda management unable or unwilling to change the status quo.
As soon as the final whistle went in the exciting Joe McDonagh Cup hurling final in Croke Park I presume the GAA made the decision about television coverage of next Saturday’s double-header in Tullamore.
With the Cork hurlers and footballers facing Offaly and Tyrone respectively there will be huge interest in these games.
These games have to be available to be seen by as many people as possible so putting them behind the GAAGO paywall is the ultimate insult to fans in the three counties involved and the general sporting public.
With the capacity of O’Connor Park just under 20,000 there’s no doubt Offaly fans could fill the stadium on their own. As McDonagh Cup finalists they are entitled to this home fixture and that’s as it should be. Surely common sense and sporting decency will ensure that the games can be viewed ‘free to air’.
I note the All-Ireland minor hurling semi finals Tipperary v Galway and Kilkenny v Clare are also on this weekend.
With the price of a ticket for the All-Ireland hurling final now gone up to €100 might I appeal to the GAA to bring back a lovely tradition while giving value for money — please, please play the minor hurling final as a curtain raiser to the senior final.
The players would love it, the public want it, and it would restore All-Ireland hurling final day to it’s once unique place as the greatest sporting day in Ireland — is that too much to ask for?
Colin Sheridan’s diatribe — ‘In passing over Robbie, FAI can finally do something right’ (Irish Examiner, Sport, June 10) — does not mention the possibility that Robbie may have struck up a good relationship with the Maccabi Tel Aviv players which could have influenced his decision to see out the season.
With regard to the battle to become the biggest party in local government, can someone tell me if Tweedledum won, or was it Tweedledee? And does it matter?
The plain fact is the main right-wing government party — operating under two brand names — won the election handsomely with roughly 46% of the vote.
Will they ever do the honest thing and formally merge the two brands? Hardly, when a bit of faux competition can produce results like this.
The elections are over, we have exercised our democratic right to vote. Congratulations to the winners and commiserations to those who were unsuccessful, at least you put your name forward. The actual ballot papers were a big disappointment. They were just functional, too long.
Our local election ballot paper was 28 inches long and I found it difficult to keep track of how I was voting, who I gave my number one, two, etc, to. The candidates names were in a vertical list, these should have been in columns of 10 in a table format. We would certainly need a table to be able to lay out the ballot paper as it was to be able to see it in full; the voting booths did not allow that, you had a 12-inch space to lay the paper down and mark your choice.
For future elections we need to have a centre page pullout of the ballot papers in all our local and national papers a few days before the election — and government funded — so we can decide in our own time, at home and at leisure, how we are going to vote.
That way I feel we will get a more honest result. I would like to see some amendments/additions to our Constitution. The first would be to make voting in local/general elections and referendums compulsory. That way we would get a true picture of what our citizens want.
The next amendment would be that only coalition governments would be allowed and the President of Ireland could appoint or dismiss ministers.
We have been stuck with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael and their Civil War politics for far too long. Combined with the Greens, their share of the vote at the last election was barely around the 50% mark, there is nothing democratic about that.
Another change I would like to see is a law which makes it illegal to lobby a government minister. The government should be forced to elect an all-party select committee to hear all lobbying. This would eliminate those who fund the political parties from having an advantage regarding government contracts.
At the next general election we need to have a referendum to get rid of the Senate, it serves no useful purpose. It is a cushy well paid (€76,000) number for failed politicians. If we have to have a Senate, and I can’t see the need for one, then the people who pay their wages — all of the taxpayers — should have a say in their election.