Professor Ray Murphy:

I have head 40 in front of me. On access it states the rights and obligations in particular articles of the Bill "are restricted pursuant to Article 23(1)(i) of the Data Protection Regulation to the extent necessary to enable persons to access birth and related information in accordance with the provisions of this Act". It is like the point I made on the interpretation of GDPR in the last number of years. Some are misinterpreting the restrictions that may apply and the consequences. To ensure clarity, therefore, that particular provision needs to be much more detailed and set out much more clearly. As it is currently, we could debate it and I would hate to fall into the trap of the lawyer where "on the one hand this and on the other hand that". We would not have to debate this if it was clear what it meant, how it was going to apply and how it would be implemented. Right now I do not think that it is clear. It needs to be considered. I agree that it is appropriate to raise it here and to highlight that this is a problem with the Bill.