Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Okay. The commission is here next week. We will also have a representative from the Department of Justice and Equality. Will that be the Accounting Officer? We are not sure. For the record, we had this prearranged before the summer. The public services card issue has emerged since and it will definitely be a point of discussion. People will wonder why we are doing it. Because the Data Protection Commission in Ireland has responsibility for EU-wide data protection in respect of Facebook, Google, Twitter and a lot these companies, I felt there was a very strong onus on our office.

I want to ensure that it is adequately resourced, given the number of challenges it could face at European level. If there are challenges in other countries, I want to know because it is the lead data protection commission. I want this matter fleshed out in case there is a risk to Ireland. The other issue has emerged in the meantime. They will both be discussed next week.