Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I do not disagree with the Deputy on the need for this legislation. It is essential. There was considerable debate in the last Dáil concerning a legislative template around access to information and tracing. It proved impossible to get consensus in the House at the time to get that legislation passed. The Government has looked at this afresh and the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, as he said this morning, is taking a different approach to this. Government is of the view we need to stretch this to ensure access to information for all involved.

On the timeframe, we want to work with Members of the House and other parties in the House. We will do everything we can at Government level, with the Attorney General's and other advice. The Minister and his Department are taking on specialist advice in relation to GDPR, for example. I take the Deputy's point about the application of GDPR in terms of access to personal information and data. We will do everything we can to accelerate that.

See this speech in context