Ms Helen Dixon:

When I was appointed commissioner at the end of 2014, the only location of the Data Protection Commissioner was in Portarlington, where there are now 27 members of staff. The number certainly has not decreased and, in fact, it hit a spike two years ago. We have a leased building in Portarlington. The lease was taken out by the OPW and is for 20 years. The rent is paid by the OPW and not recouped from us. The lease will expire on 30 November 2026. We have had a number of works carried out on the office over the years. This year, in particular, a little later than one would have hoped, there was a repainting of the front of the building to reflect the name of the Data Protection Commission as opposed to that of the Data Protection Commissioner, and that has been completed. The plans for the office are that it is business as usual. The staff are a critical part of our infrastructure and team. Experts in the office have been with the data protection authority in Ireland for close to 14 years. We rely heavily, therefore, on their expertise and corporate memory.