Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)

I ask the Taoiseach to investigate Departments and agencies, including his own, which publish on their websites personal information pertaining to inquiries they conduct. I refer specifically to the Private Residential Tenancies Board when it holds hearings into disputes over tenancies or whether a tenant is causing serious social problems in an area. The law requires that such hearings are held in public but, if members of the press do not attend and if nobody is present other than those involved in the hearing, the PRTB puts the name, address and all the details of the complaints and the responses to them on its public website. This compromises the people concerned in respect of their neighbours, so this issue needs to be addressed. The Data Protection Commissioner is trying to resolve the issue by having the town in which Mr. X or Ms. Y lives posted rather than his or her personal details. This is an important issue because it leads to the continuation of serious social problems.

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