Controversial Chinese cameras widely used throughout Leinster House complex, says Green Party TD

Green Party TD Patrick Costello has said that Ireland needs to follow the lead of other countries and stop using Hikvision security cameras in Leinster House.

The cameras, which are manufactured in China, have already been linked to security risks in the United Kingdom and the United States. They are banned from use in government buildings in Australia, Mr Costello told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland.

When asked if the cameras were in sensitive areas in Leinster House, such as the rooms in which party meetings take place, he said they were used inside and outside and were “quite visible in lots of corridors”.

“I don’t know if they’re in party rooms... but they’re widely used throughout the Leinster House complex.” Mr Costello said.

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“I think we need to look at this in the context of the Government making a decision that mobile phones will no longer be allowed into cabinet meetings because of security concerns. So all these things are very real.”

When countries like the UK, the United States and Australia “who know a thing or two about spying and espionage, are flagging these things as a security risk, we’ve got to start”.

[ National security concerns raised over use of Chinese cameras at Leinster House ]

Because it was specifically Hikvision cameras that had been linked to security risks by those countries Mr Costello said he was asking for a review of the security around these cameras.

The links between Hikvision and the Chinese State were part of the reason for his call, he said. “It’s the link to the Chinese state and the link to the Chinese military. As I say, these three countries have banned them for good reason.

“it’s not just about Ireland. Ireland is a member of the European Union. This is about spying in the European Union as a whole.”

In a response to a statement from Hikvision which said that the cameras are compliant with the applicable Irish laws and regulations and are subject to strict security requirements, Mr Costello said that GDPR regulations needed to be effective and well implemented and he did not believe that was the case.

“I think the Data Protection Commission has to pull up their socks there because that is a shield for the citizen against an unwarranted intrusion. We have three countries who know a thing or two about spying, who are claiming there are security issues here. This is something we need to look at, regardless of what is said. This is something that we need to assess for ourselves.”

The Irish Council for Civil Liberties told the Houses of the Oireachtas commission in a letter this weekend that the cameras have been banned or removed in the UK, the US, Australia, Denmark, Scotland and the European Parliament and that investigations have found that the devices may be reporting back to locations in China, raising concerns that the cameras may be used to spy on behalf of China.

In response to queries from The Irish Times, a spokesman for Hikvision said that it was “categorically false to represent Hikvision as a threat to national security” and that “no respected technical institution or assessment has come to this conclusion.”

“As a manufacturer, Hikvision does not store end-users’ video data, does not offer cloud storage in the Republic of Ireland and therefore cannot transmit data from end-users to third parties,” the company spokesman said.

He said the company’s cameras were compliant with applicable Irish laws and regulations and are subject to strict security requirements.

The cameras were sold via distribution partners and the company does not have direct contact with many public and private “end-user” organizations that purchase its products, he said.

The spokesman said that Hikvision “takes all reports regarding human rights very seriously and recognises our responsibility for protecting people” and that it has been engaging with governments around the world “to clarify misunderstandings about the company and our business and address their concerns.”