Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 26 September 2019

Public Accounts Committee

2018 Financial Statements of the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner

9:00 am

Mr. Richard Fallon:

Obviously, we start from the point that the role of the Data Protection Commissioner and her office is fully independent of Government. This is a requirement of GDPR, backed up by the relevant case law. The Government, in consultation with the Attorney General, has obviously decided to challenge the findings of the commissioner's report, so I do not think this course of action is interpreted or meant to be interpreted as a criticism of the commissioner or her office or mandate. What it points to is the importance and the need to get legal clarity on the findings of the report.