Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to make a final point, to which Mr. Carroll does not have to respond. I thank all the witnesses for their work on this issue. One thing I fear from our interaction and from the beefed-up cost - €5 million in the past two years - is a potential for massive levels of case law and litigation. We must be wary of this and make this legislation work so that it does not become an enormously bureaucratic and costly process. We must protect the fundamental rights of individuals, but we must also be very careful not to create a monster that would make it very difficult for individuals to have their rights upheld. I fear we could be doing this even with the beefed-up cost of the Data Protection Commission and the potential for massive litigation as incorporated in the Bill. We just need to be aware of this. Perhaps there is legislation we can amend to ensure that this does not happen or perhaps we can provide compensation before the courts intervene. We must be watchful.