Mr. Muiris O'Connor:

We actually have prepared briefing material that covers the rationale for our inclusion of the role for the Data Protection Commissioner in the various aspects of the Bill, which I could supply in written form. We are aware of the reservations expressed about section 3 and the data protection consent exemption. We will work with the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner to explore other opportunities. We are also digesting the implications of the EU data protection regulation in areas 4 and 5 in terms of its role in giving advice on the prescribing of data sources and matching programmes. It is our understanding that the powers ascribed in our legislation to the Data Protection Commissioner are statutory powers the office has in any event. The concerns are about the perception that the office would be complicit in some sort of consent exemptions or data matching programmes of which it would ultimately have to be an independent arbiter. We are satisfied that we could remove the role as specified in the Bill and still retain the functionality that is available.