PQ 203
203. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration to set out the Government’s position, prior to the enactment of the Private Security Services Act 2004, regarding the legal powers available to private security personnel in relation to the detention, restraint, or physical control of individuals; to clarify whether the Private Security Services Act 2004 provides any statutory power for private security personnel to detain, restrain, or otherwise deprive a person of their liberty; if he will confirm that private security staff possess no greater powers than those available to any member of the public under common-law citizen’s arrest; if he will outline the legal limits around the use of force by private security personnel, including the requirement for immediate handover to An Garda Síochána; the oversight that exists within the Private Security Authority (PSA) to identify, investigate, and sanction cases where private security staff act outside their lawful authority; and if he will detail whether his Department has conducted, commissioned, or reviewed any examinations of incidents where private security personnel have used force or physical restraint resulting in serious harm or death. [64415/25]
Introduced
19 November 2025
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Discovery layer
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19 November 2025
Summary
203. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration to set out the Government’s position, prior to the enactment of the Private Security Services Act 2004, regarding the legal powers available to private security personnel in relation to the detention, restraint, or physical control of individuals; to clarify whether the Private Security Services Act 2004 provides any statutory power for private security personnel to detain, restrain, or otherwise deprive a person of their liberty; if he will confirm that private security staff possess no greater powers than those available to any member of the public under common-law citizen’s arrest; if he will outline the legal limits around the use of force by private security personnel, including the requirement for immediate handover to An Garda Síochána; the oversight that exists within the Private Security Authority (PSA) to identify, investigate, and sanction cases where private security staff act outside their lawful authority; and if he will detail whether his Department has conducted, commissioned, or reviewed any examinations of incidents where private security personnel have used force or physical restraint resulting in serious harm or death. [64415/25]
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Private Security Authority
Private Security Authority
xml · EN · 19 November 2025
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- Official source: https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2025-11-19/203/
- Open data entity: https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachtas/question/2025-11-19/pq_203