Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 192:

In page 120, to delete lines 12 to 14 and substitute the following:“(5) A decision of the Commission under Chapter 2 and 3 may, within 28 days from the date on which notice of the decision is received by him or her, be appealed to the court by the person concerned.”.

Section 148 deals with an appeal to the courts arising from a decision of the Data Protection Commission. The amendment seeks to change the parameters by which such an appeal may take place. Having re-read the Government's draft, I believe subsection (5) is probably better than the my proposed subsection (5) as the former provides for a broader ground upon which a decision can be appealed. Anyone affected by the decision can appeal, whereas in the amendment the decision can be appealed only by the person concerned. On that basis, I will withdraw the amendment.

I will pursue amendment No. 193. A decision of the Data Protection Commission can be appealed to the Circuit Court and High Court. The Government proposes that a person may only appeal a decision to the High Court if he or she obtains the leave of the court. The amendment proposes to remove the words "by leave of that court" to give persons an entitlement to have their case heard by a High Court judge having taken a case to the Circuit Court.