Gardaí will immediately begin tendering to buy bodycams, Justice Minister Helen McEntee will tell her colleagues this morning. 

The Green Party had demanded the use of facial recognition technology by the Gardaí not be included in the Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Bill and have won the in-Government argument on that.

Instead, a standalone bill will be prepared in September to allow Gardaí to retrospectively apply facial recognition to footage they already have.

The live use of facial recognition, or mass surveillance of crowds, will not be permitted and Gardaí will only be allowed to use the technology during investigations where the penalty for the crime is life imprisonment - such as cases of homicide, rape and aggravated sexual assault, child sexual abuse and child abduction.

AWest Palm Beach police officer wears a body cam. Credit: Lannis Waters/The Palm Beach Post/ZUMA Wire/Alamy Live News

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has been seeking access to facial recognition technology to reduce the time taken to sift manually through thousands of hours of CCTV footage when investigating serious cases.

While the Justice Minister believes it is a tool An Garda Síochána needs in a digital age, Ms McEntee will tell Cabinet she is also aware of the concerns about the use of such technology, which will now be more deeply debated by the Oireachtas.

The legislation is expected to be approved by the Oireachtas before the summer recess.

Main image: A police officer in Germany shows off his camera. Credit: Matthias Rietschel/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa/Alamy Live News