Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

When a Deputy tables a parliamentary question about an individual to the Department of Employment and Social Protection, the Department replies because there is a presumption in law that, provided the Deputy has evidence to show he or she is acting on behalf of the individual in question, we can, under data protection, be given an answer because we are elected public representatives. The regulator is not independent of Oireachtas Éireann in complying with the law laid down by us and it should be reminded of that.