David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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Departments can have entrenched and strongly held views but they also have to fairly co-operate with Ms Dixon's office, as anybody does, because as I said earlier, the Data Protection Commission's reach is into both the public and private sector. We must have regard when we receive correspondence, as we do, to data protection. We must do it as individuals and as Members of the Oireachtas. Departments have a responsibility to take the lead. Perhaps it is a bit strong; but was there a pushback from the Department in co-operating with Ms Dixon's office? It might be strong to say "pushback", but when I read the report in its entirety on the process from when Ms Dixon's office first started engaging with the Department up to its conclusion, it did not jump out at me that the Department was co-operating in a fair way with the office. Was that engagement an outlier or unusual in terms of how other Departments or organisations have engaged with Ms Dixon's office?