Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Amendment No. 14 seeks to provide an coimisiún with the power to compel online services to provide any data requested that pertains to public interest research or any data that the commissioner deems to be relevant in protection of the common good.

I do not believe it is appropriate to give a regulatory body a general power to compel the disclosure of information based on what would be its own definition of the public good. My advice is that any such power must be explicitly linked to the functions envisaged for that body. An coimisiún already has the power to compel designated online services to provide it with information regarding their compliance with their obligations under online safety codes and the Bill sets out that it is an offence for them not to do so.

Regarding access to data for the purposes of public interest research, the Digital Services Act sets out a detailed process by which this may be done. That Act is expected to enter into force by the end of November 2022, following which EU member states will have 15 months to implement its provisions in their national law. This process is being led in Ireland by my colleague the Tánaiste. Including this amendment would therefore pre-empt or duplicate those provisions which would, on both counts, be inappropriate. For these three reasons, I do not accept the amendment.