Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

On the penalty points issue, I have made the point that Article 6 of the GDPR lists various exceptions to the consent requirement. One such exception is the processing necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or the exercise of official authority vested in the controller. It is not an issue. The Minister of State is protesting a little much. He has raised the case of people who reach the age of 100 years who might not receive their money because they decide not to opt in and sign up to this arrangement. How many people reach the age of 100 years in a particular year and receive their money? It would not be too difficult. If people were to decide not to opt in and not to sign up and reach the age of 100 years and want to receive the money, they could make a call and get the money. A grant payment does not come down the lane on its own; people have to apply for it. Probably 99% of people will sign up to the facility the State is creating, which is fine. The Government is being alarmist about the very small percentage of people who believe their consent is necessary for their data to be shared. I do not want to go over it again, but amendments Nos. 6 and 9 simply state consent would have to be informed. In other words, informing has happened, but the consent has to be for processing for a specific purpose or reason. That is where the Bara judgment comes in. It was a case years ago in Europe in which the Romanian Government was found guilty of processing data for a purpose other than the original one. It has now been superseded by the GDPR. From our point of view, what we are looking for is reasonable.

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