Dr. Fred Logue:

I am a small business owner and chief bottle washer. I ensure that does not happen simply by being compliant. Fines are not my idea. The European legislature has put in fines that are persuasive and effective. I wish to point out as well that in Ireland we have lower fines for public bodies than private bodies. That was a decision of the Oireachtas. Perhaps members should be talking to their colleagues in the Oireachtas about why they have gone soft on public bodies relative to private bodies.

At the end of the day, we need legal certainty. If we have legal certainty, then we can easily comply. We need strong enforcement so that the people who do not want to comply are not undercutting the people who do invest in compliance. At the end of the day we are talking about protecting individual people and their rights.

I did not talk about big tech in my submission. My opening statement referred to basic everyday rights relating to employment interaction, police surveillance and adoption. There was nothing about big tech. All my clients are ordinary individuals who have been wronged by public and private sector bodies.