The Garda would be “very reluctant” to stop using Israeli-made technology that is currently helping to extract data from phones and computers to solve crimes, including murders, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has said.
Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan said the continued use of Cellebrite was a matter for the Garda but he had asked Mr Harris to examine if the same type of technology could be provided by other companies.
Opposition parties have called for the force to stop using the Cellebrite technology, which has been Japanese-owned for more than a decade, on the grounds it was Israeli and has been used by Israel in its war against Hamas since the attacks on October 7th, 2023.
It emerged last week that gardaí used Cellebrite to access the contents of a phone of Stephen Mooney (52) who was being investigated for the murder of his wife, Anna Mooney (46), at their home in Kilbarrack, Dublin 5, in June 2023.
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Mooney had denied the murder but changed his plea to guilty when the Central Criminal Court was told gardaí were last month able to extract data from his phone, having previously been unable to bypass its encryption. When they managed to access the phone, after a software update on Cellebrite, they discovered video and audio footage of the murder of Ms Mooney, a Ukrainian mother of two.
Asked if the Garda should be using it, in light of its links to Israel and calls by the Opposition, Mr Harris said Cellebrite has been used in Ireland for years. It has a well-established record of producing vital evidence accepted in court cases.
“It’s a tool that we need to properly investigate crime which has some form of cyber or digital element,” he said. “And certainly all of the serious crime we are investigating has that element with it. When you look at the detections we’re getting, the crimes we’re preventing and the convictions that there are, we’d be very reluctant to step away from a very important tool.”
Mr Harris was speaking at the passing out on Friday of 149 new Garda members at the Garda College, Templemore, Co Tipperary. He was asked about Cellebrite after both Sinn Féin and the Social Democrats called on the Garda to cease using it because of Israel’s war on Gaza.
[ Opposition calls for gardaí to stop buying Israeli-made decryption technologyOpens in new window ]
Last year, the Irish government banned future purchases of military equipment from Israel due to the actions of the Israeli government in Gaza. However, this ban did not apply to An Garda Síochána. There is also no ban on Israeli-made or -owned technology in Ireland.
Separately in Templemore, Mr O’Callaghan announced he has instructed officials to prepare legislation allowing for remote District Court hearings within the lifetime of the Government.
This would free up Garda resources for street policing as gardaí would no longer have to attend court in-person for routine hearings to present evidence or seek permission to arrest a suspect who breached bail conditions.
“Obviously gardaí are essential witnesses in those court cases,” Mr O’Callaghan said. ”But there are very many uncontested and routine applications that happen before a trial which should be heard remotely. We don’t need to have a guard turning up in court to hear them."
Mr O’Callaghan said he is now “slightly more optimistic” about growing the Garda force, saying that, as well as the 149 gardaí attested on Friday, more than 200 recruits will enter the college next Monday. He pointed out that an intake of that size has not occurred since before the pandemic.
Some 6,700 applicants applied to join the Garda under the latest recruitment campaign. This is higher than the 6,400 who applied last year under the first recruitment drive run since the maximum age for applying was increased to 49 years.
Mr O’Callaghan said many people believed last year’s numbers would prove to be a “once-off” but this is not the case.
