The new National Children's Hospital will have CCTV technology which will store millions of pictures of faces.
Similar to a system in China, the facial recognition cameras will be used in the facility.
The software can count how many people are in a room - as well as analyze the amount of time spent in areas of the hospital.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the National Children's Hospital said:
"The safety of patients, visitors and staff at the new children’s hospital is of paramount importance to everyone working on the new children’s hospital project.
Stanley Security Systems, who have been working in this area for more than 25 years, were successful in the competitive procurement process for the installation of the security systems at the new children’s hospital.
There continues to be significant technological developments and innovation in the area of security systems and, as would be expected, the procurement process undertaken sought to ensure that the equipment procured is fully future-proofed.
Less than 3% of the cameras procured for the new children’s hospital have the potential for high definition facial recognition capabilities. These cameras have many capabilities, and can also be used in the same way as remaining 97% of the cameras, which do not have facial recognition capabilities.
It has not yet been decided which aspect of the security systems’ capabilities will be used.
This decision will be taken nearer the opening of the hospital by Children’s Health Ireland and will be fully in line with Irish and European data protection and privacy legislation and guidelines, to ensure that the occupants of the hospital have the appropriate protections and security afforded to them, in line with their privacy rights."
"This isn't a question of future-proofing," said Simon McGarr who is a solicitor and Director of Data Compliance Europe.
"It won't get more legal to track children's faces in the future. It will never be legal later if it's not legal now.
"The appropriate form of future-proofing was to examine whether or not facial recognition cameras were appropriate to buy in the first place."
Meanwhile, the EU is attempting to clampdown on facial recognition software being used across the member states.
"The European Commission is planning legislation to give EU citizens explicit rights over their facial recognition data," said technology journalist Andy O'Donoghue.
"And what they're trying to stop is this indiscriminate use of facial recognition technology. But, it is certainly hasn't been solved yet. Because of the nature of our faces, we have a right to know why it is being used and when it is being used."
