Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Higgins. I agree that GDPR is often used by service providers as an excuse not to service a request, sometimes perhaps through a misunderstanding of GDPR and not having read what the principles are and so on.

This clarifies the situation. Under the previous data protection legislation, there was a complete exemption for the Ombudsman from all data protection rules. Under the Data Protection Act 2018, we now need to provide a specific, proportionate and limited exemption to prevent investigations from being frustrated by people.

With regard to the Senator's question about not having seen the draft regulations, I believed that they had been circulated. I have a copy of them here and will ensure they are sent around to all members. However, they should have been sent around and I apologise for the committee not having had a chance to see them.