Mr. Denis Kelleher:

It would be brought against the body. The body would have processed personal data in breach of the Data Protection Acts which would then have a knock-on effect on that public body's ability to use that information. That is one deterrent. The other big deterrent is the potential that the subjects whose data has been processed illegally will be able to bring damages claims against that public body and it looks like they may be able to combine into class actions, and those claims may be quite significant.

It is really a policy decision for the Oireachtas as to how data protection would be enforced against public bodies. There is a range of options. It is a question of which is the most effective and whether one imposes finds or just says it will be left to a matter of legality plus the potential of damages claims to ensure that public bodies process personal data appropriately.