The Irish government plans to draft legislation that would make it legal for law enforcement to use spyware, a top official said this week.

Jim O’Callaghan, minister of justice for home Affairs and migration, said on Tuesday that it is necessary for Ireland to strengthen “lawful interception powers” and “create a legal basis for the use of covert surveillance software” to better fight serious crime and security threats.

The bill would require interception requests to be authorized by a court, the announcement said.

The law also would include a provision allowing the use of electronic scanning equipment which can pinpoint and record identifier data from mobile devices so that they can be tracked to specific areas, according to the announcement.

“The new legislation will also include robust legal safeguards to provide continued assurance that the use of such powers is necessary and proportionate,” O’Callaghan said in a statement. 

The Department of Justice will work with the Irish Attorney General’s Office and other state agencies to develop a framework for the law,  the announcement said.

O’Callaghan called the planned legislation “long overdue.”