Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I support Deputy Wallace's and Deputy Clare Daly's amendments because while they deal with different aspects of the Bill, their intention is the same. It is not difficult to anticipate the circumstances in which it would be in the interests of a data controller to hinder, harass or in any way infringe the work of a DPO. That might be in the interests of individuals or senior management within any organisation and could restrict the DPO's ability to do his or her job properly.

I take on board what the Minister has said. It was somewhat more detailed than his contribution on this amendment on Committee Stage. While I recognise that the data protection commission is a prescribed organisation under the legislation I am concerned that the procedure would be protracted and slow. My amendment to subsection (2) of the section that it is intended to insert allows the commission to take corrective action. There should be a direct line between DPOs and the data protection commission beyond the Protected Disclosures Act 2014. If somebody was concerned and contacted them directly outside the scope of the Protected Disclosures Act 2014, there would be scope for advice and support and so on. A complaint made under a section of this Act would allow the commission to take corrective action quickly and directly against the people in those organisations which were potentially hindering, undermining or harassing the person who was trying to do his or her job.

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