Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The draft general scheme of the Data Sharing and Governance Bill was approved by the Government and published in August 2015. The purpose of the Bill is to promote and encourage data sharing between public bodies by providing a statutory framework for data sharing for legitimate and clearly specified purposes that are compliant with data protection law and to improve the protection of individual privacy rights by setting new governance standards for data sharing by public bodies.

Pre-legislative scrutiny hearings on the Bill were held in April and May by the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach. Officials of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, the Department of Justice and Equality, the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner and representatives of civil society groups with an interest in the area of digital rights and data protection attended the hearings. The committee published its report in July. Work is well under way on the drafting of the Bill which will be informed by the findings and recommendations contained in the committee's report. The Bill must also take into account the provisions of the EU general data protection regulation which was published in April 2016 and will come into effect on 25 May 2018.

The Government reform unit in the Department is responsible for progressing the Bill. In conjunction with other duties, three members of staff of the unit, in consultation with colleagues in the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, are working with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel on the drafting of the Bill. The Minister intends to submit the text of the Bill to the Government for approval to publish and commence passage through the Oireachtas by the end of the year or shortly thereafter.

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