Ms Patricia Quinn:

-----and we have made a detailed submission to the Data Protection Commissioner. We have a small staff and, therefore, it is part of the responsibilities of somebody who has been given other responsibilities. The person who held the position of data protection officer resigned at the end of last year and we are currently in the process of filling that vacancy.

I am glad to be given the opportunity to talk about data protection. We are acutely conscious of the provisions of the GDPR and we consider ourselves to be a marginal source of risk in respect of personal information. We hold almost no personal information. We give back some information that comes bundled with data that we buy from the CRO and we hash personal data wherever we find it in files. For example, when a director of a company signs the memorandum forming the company and gives his or her profession and home address, we strike out that information when the files are made public.