Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I confirm that I am in Leinster House 2000.

I read Mr. Sunderland’s statement, and I followed his delivery of it. The one thing I wanted to home in on was article 15.4 of the GDPR. We are trying, insofar as is possible, to scrutinise this legislation, and ensure that when it comes out the other end is that it is very much favourable to the survivors and victims of the mother and baby homes. This is so that they can go back and rightly trace their identity and obtain biological records that relate to themselves, potential medical situations, etc.

There are two conflicting rights. Article 15.4 states that the “right to obtain a copy of personal data should not adversely affect the rights and freedoms of others”. GDPR is an EU regulation and comprises set of laws that have come from Europe. Each nation has taken them on. They have come in regulation format. However, it seems that, over the years, we in Ireland have had different interpretations at times. That should not be the case insofar as regulations are concerned. However, we have had a different interpretation over the years on a number of fronts. One example is CCTV, although it comes from a different realm entirely. We are at odds with some other European nations in some of our appraisals of GDPR. Could Mr. Sunderland elaborate on the incongruence of article 15.4? How does he believe that we as a committee, as we try to shape this legislation, can ensure compliance, while still ensuring maximum data is available to the survivor or victim?