An Irish civil rights group has hit out at what it describes as “unacceptable” government proposals to introduce surveillance of all Irish internet users.

The proposed laws, in keeping with the contentious EU Data Directive that received the backing of the majority of European States in December 2006, will expect Irish internet service providers (ISPs) to keep records of every email, instant message or chat message and every time users log on or off for up to 18 months.

The Irish rules are more draconian than the EU Data Directive, which requires ISPs and telecoms providers to retain such information for a minimum of six months.

According to privacy group Digital Rights Ireland (DRI), the information stored by Irish telcos and ISPs will be available to law officers without any court order or warrant.

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The new laws will be put into effect by a statutory instrument, without any scrutiny by the Oireachtas.

“It is incredible that the Government proposes to introduce a law which would require every internet user to be monitored without any warrant or prior judicial approval, without any public consultation and without any debate or vote in the Oireachtas,” said DRI chairman TJ McIntyre .

“A law of this gravity should not be made by stealth.

“The Department of Justice appears to be relying on the ‘urgency’ of the matter to justify bypassing the Dáil and Seanad,” McIntyre continued. “But the European law being implemented was passed in February 2006.

“The Department has had two years to introduce a Bill and it cannot rely on its own delay to justify side-lining democratic scrutiny."

McIntyre went on to say that, in any case, it is inappropriate to implement this law whilst it is under court challenge.

“The Irish Government itself has challenged the validity of the law before the European Court of Justice. Digital Rights Ireland has also brought a High Court action challenging the European law. These proposals will effectively pre-empt the judgment of the courts,” he warned.