Mr. Cathal Ryan:

We identified the issue as important very early. Literally post-GDPR we noted that there were issues in terms of making public representation. It is important to state that it is a really important democratic function. We were very aware that we needed to discuss this matter not only with Members of the Houses of the Oireachtas but also with local authorities and the Departments, which is what we did. Behind the scenes I carried out a lot of consultation with various committees and local authorities through the Local Government Management Agency, LGMA, to get a sense of the issues on the ground. Following that, we identified that there was an inconsistent approach being used either by local authorities or Departments in how they approached section 40 of the Act. With that in mind, as the Senator rightly pointed out, there is a sense that people or the Department were using GDPR as an excuse. We wanted to tackle and implement a common sense approach to section 40, which we have done through the publication of guidelines. The guidelines would have been sent to every Member of the Houses of the Oireachtas. Those guidelines were also issued to all local authority and public sector departments nationwide. The guidelines suggest that a democratic representative must take some responsibility for the public representation that he or she is making in terms of engagement with his or her constituent. On the basis that they have done so, the Department or a public sector body should take his or her word or a written letter that he or she has a legitimate public representation to make. If one reads the guidelines, which were published late last year and, I believe, around December, one will get a real sense of what is required. Following the guidelines, which we published, we then went back to those bodies and encouraged them to come together and form a standard approach. For example, I have attended a data protection officer, DPO, network committee with the LGMA for local authorities and I understand that they will develop a code of conduct based on these guidelines. As Members will be a aware, there are 31 local authorities that may be doing 31 different ways of public representation.