James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister. That concludes our scrutiny of Vote 22 - Courts Service.

We move now to Vote 24 - Justice, which is divided into a number of subheads but comprises two broad pillars, one being the criminal pillar and the other the civil pillar. I remind the committee that this is a two-hour session and it is now 7.50 p.m.. If we are to get through all of the work we need to move promptly. Are there any questions on Vote 24, pillar A - criminal justice? If not, we will move to Vote 24, pillar B - civic justice. Are there any questions arising? As there are no queries arising, we will move to Vote 41 - Policing Authority. As no member has indicated on this Vote, we will move to Vote 44 - the Data Protection Commission. I wish to ask a question on this Vote. If there are members who would like to come in when I have finished, I ask them to raise a hand and I will get to them. There is a 21% increase in pay under this Vote. Does that relate to additional staff or additional resources? There is also reference to a 0% increase in non-pay administration, about which I have a concern. As part of its work programme, the committee will undertake work in regard to the Data Protection Commission. The Minister and the committee will be aware that the Data Protection Commission has been criticised in Europe recently in respect of its alleged slowness in reaching decisions. There is a risk now that particular member states will begin implementing their own data protection regimes, which would be potentially detrimental to us not only in reputational terms but also economically if foreign direct investment, FDI, multinationals follow the regulations in the different member states. That is of some concern. The issue, in part, is the resourcing of the Data Protection Commission in terms of human resources, IT and other equipment. It was reported in the media recently that staff in the agency use Lotus Notes and that it has failed to migrate to more modern technologies. Given the Data Protection Commission is key to our economic offering and it is the regulator for all of the EU, for the time being at least, and in light of the threat posed by the alleged delays owing to undue bureaucracy in Ireland and within the offices of the Data Protection Commission - I await the response from the Data Protection Commissioner and her officials on this when we meet them - I am concerned about the lack of increase in its budget.