John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I would ask that before that legislation is introduced that the Office of the Data Commission should look at, for example, the Members of this House and how they control the data they have. I will use my own situation as an example. I was elected in 1997 and now have 15,000 files, not created randomly, but created by people who gave us their birth certificates, wills, medical circumstances, the whole lot, and they are there in hard or soft copy on files. The Data Commissioner is asking individuals like me to come to that high standard that it is talking about. We operate a standard, it is moving to a different standard and there is no recognition of the cost necessary to get to that standard and comply with what is going on. There is a need for anyone creating this kind of legislation to understand the agencies or the individuals it is dealing with to assist them to have the appropriate storage and appropriate command of the data it holds. That is essential. As much as I think it is important for people within agencies to have access to information, to access it on a professional basis only and not merely to nose around, because one gets that.