Alex White (Dublin South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

In relation to the point Deputy Catherine Murphy made on what is happening in the UK, the Eircode system will be of considerable benefit to the emergency services. That has been made very clear to me by them. I understand the Deputy's point about the difficulty in proving damage in any complaints system. When one brings forward a complaint, one must know or at least have a strong suspicion that there has been a breach. In the complex world we live in, many things happen that we are concerned we do not know about; the so-called "unknown knowns". It is very difficult to devise any complaints system that is not based on an individual pointing to a particular breach that has occurred and bringing that matter forward. That is the basis on which the Data Protection Acts were enacted. I do not want to offend, but if anyone can think of a better way for the Data Protection Acts to function other than by way of complaints, I would certainly be interested in discussing it. That is in relation to the Data Protection Acts, however, which are already there and which we deal with and use all the time. I am sure Deputies use the legislation all the time to considerable effect. That is in relation to Deputy Catherine Murphy's points.

To Deputy Colreavy I note that there is considerable protection in the Bill. We are drawing on and can avail of the protections that are already in the Data Protection Acts and which cover all personal data. The Deputies raised a parallel with the PPS number issue and we can all have our views on that in the context of the controversies last year. With respect to Deputy Colreavy, I point out that PPS numbers were linked to individuals. To the extent that there was a concern about one's PPS number, it was possible to see whose PPS number it was. An Eircode simpliciterand on its own is not linked to any other identifier whereas the PPS number was.

See this speech in context