Garda body camera regime commences on 14 October under four orders

The Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, Jim O’Callaghan, has made four statutory instruments that bring the State’s recording-device regime for An Garda Síochána into operation on 14 October 2026. The orders commence Part 5 and sections 6 and 7 of the Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Act 2023 (No. 32 of 2023) and give legal effect to the associated code of practice. They were published in Iris Oifigiúil No. 81 of 9 October 2026.

The 2023 Act is the statutory framework governing the use of recording devices by members of An Garda Síochána. The commencement package is completed by a parallel order under the Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024 (No. 1 of 2024) and by a part-commencement of the Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) (Amendment) Act 2026 (No. 26 of 2026). All four instruments take effect on the same date, 14 October 2026.

The four instruments

• S.I. No. 506 of 2026, the Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Act 2023 (Commencement) Order 2026, made by the Minister under section 1(2) of the 2023 Act, commences Part 5 and sections 6 and 7 of that Act on 14 October 2026.
• S.I. No. 507 of 2026, the Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) (Amendment) Act 2026 (Commencement) Order 2026, made under section 1(2) of the amending Act, provides for the part commencement of the 2026 Amendment Act insofar as it relates to amendments to section 7 of the 2023 Act.
• S.I. No. 508 of 2026, the Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024 (Commencement) Order 2026, made under section 1(2) of the 2024 Act, gives effect to amendments made to section 6 and Part 5 of the 2023 Act.
• S.I. No. 509 of 2026, the Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Act 2023 (Code of Practice) (No. 2) Order 2026, made under section 47(4) of the 2023 Act, also comes into operation on 14 October 2026.

Code of practice

The code-of-practice order is the instrument that carries the operational rules for recording devices. It is made under section 47(4) of the 2023 Act, the provision that allows the Minister to prescribe a code of practice for the operation of the recording-device regime. It is the second order of its kind made under the Act, and at €4.50 it is the most expensive of the four instruments, reflecting its greater length.

Availability and price

Copies of all four orders may be purchased from Government Publications, Mountshannon Road, Kilmainham, Dublin, D08 XA06 (telephone 046 942 3100; email publications@opw.ie).

• The three commencement orders — S.I. No. 506 of 2026, S.I. No. 507 of 2026 and S.I. No. 508 of 2026 — are priced at €1.50 each.
• The code-of-practice order, S.I. No. 509 of 2026, is priced at €4.50.

What it means

From 14 October 2026 the recording-device provisions of the 2023 Act, as amended, will be in force for Garda operations and for the public. Because the 2024 Act amendments and the 2026 Amendment Act are commenced on the same day, the amended text of sections 6 and 7 and Part 5 applies from the outset, leaving a single consolidated regime rather than a staged one. The code of practice, made under section 47(4), supplies the rules that will govern how recording devices are used in practice.

Source: Iris Oifigiúil, No. 81, 9 October 2026, section I (official reference: S.I. No. 506 of 2026; S.I. No. 507 of 2026; S.I. No. 508 of 2026; S.I. No. 509 of 2026).