Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 2 November 2021

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth

General Scheme of the Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2021: Discussion (Resumed)

Photo of Erin McGreehanErin McGreehan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Under GDPR, a person can instruct not to give information relating to himself or herself. It was mentioned that European law trumps the Constitution. If we do not have the framework from this legislation providing for clear detailing of what people can and would get access to, would it be better to scrap the legislation, as mentioned, so we could move to GDPR and let Europe judge all these cases? If a mother was raped as a child and does not want to be contacted or traumatised by past events, is she able to use that article of GDPR relating to the common good, and say she does not want the information out there? This legislation would ensure a birth certificate would be provided if it works within GDPR.

If we scrap this legislation and work off GDPR, as it would be adequate, why is there not case law relating to GDPR just yet? We have spent much time working and challenging ourselves with a really important piece of legislation. It is a pity this has not been tested in the courts. If we leave it to GDPR, would Article 12 allow access to information an a case-by-case basis to be challenged? The legislation indicates it cannot.

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