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A BILL to allow for the retention of telephone and internet data, and for their retrieval by the Garda and law enforcement bodies, has been published by the Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern. The Bill implements an EU directive on data retention and consolidates provisions in the Criminal Justice (Terrorist Offences) Act 2005.

The Bill reduces the time for which telephone data can be retained from three years under the existing law to two, the maximum allowed under the EU directive. Internet data will be retained by service providers for 12 months. The directive allows for a minimum retention period of six months. The Bill will not allow the content of communications to be stored or retrieved, but will retain the identity of the senders and receivers of the communication, the date and time sent, and, in the case of mobile phones, the location of the phones.