Ms Helen Dixon:

We conducted the investigation under the Data Protection Acts 1998 to 2003. If it reads the provisions, the committee will see that we have identified that section 10A provides for the commission to deal with infringements of data protection law. It is a matter for the Minister how she characterises the findings as a result of the statutory investigation which have been issued to the Department. Section 10A also states the commission may issue an enforcement notice in order to force compliance with its findings. The letter of 15 August has been published. When we issued the report to the Department, we followed the approach we take with most organisations. We deferred enforcement, pending the Department's voluntary compliance with the clear directions we had set out. That is why it is now necessary to proceed - we reserved our right to do so - to enforcement action.