David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their presentations, which were very technical and legally based. We are trying to deal with the heads of Bill and I welcome the presentations that were given.

Would it be fair to say Dr. Jennings seemed to be concerned about the lack of safeguards for citizens? If that is a fair assessment, what would be his main concerns in regard to the lack of safeguards in the Bill?

Mr. Daragh O'Brien talked about the cart being put before the horse and that the focus is on data sharing whereas the initial focus should be on governance and then looking at the scope and purpose of data sharing. Will he expand on that point?

He also referred to the Bill as a missed opportunity because we have not learned from past experience. Will he elaborate on what are those past experiences? He spoke about a cross-functional approach with a promise of efficiencies delivered upon. Can he give me some clarity on that? He spoke about the definition of means, and that different organisations have different interpretations of means. I assume he is speaking about people's income, their details and so on. How would that be problematic in his view? When he says that we need definitions to ensure clarity of meaning, will he give us other examples where there is a need for clarity of meanings? He stated that some of the assumptions in the Bill no longer apply. I know he had to go through his presentation quickly, but what assumptions were being talked about?

I have some understanding but I am curious about what Mr. Kelleher means when he states that data sharing requires a law, that it is not underpinned by law - he specifically referred to head 4 of the Bill. That seems to be underpinned by the very fact that this Bill will be enacted and it refers to other Bills. Will he clarify what he means by the phrase "underpinned by law"?