Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

The amendment states that "Under this Act, all records relating to the adoption or informal care arrangement of a relevant person are considered to be that person’s personal data, regardless of whether that data are shared with another person. Personal data in relation to a relevant person, includes but is not limited to" and so on. The Minister has said that we are better off sticking with the definitions that are most up to date and in line with the European Court of Justice and the GDPR. The problem is that this Government and previous governments have form in terms of not having the most open interpretation of the GDPR. The reason for this amendment is to ensure that information can be accessed. The aim is to strengthen the approach the Minister is talking about in relation to the most up to date interpretation of the GDPR. That is not the way Ireland has interpreted it so far and the whole purpose of this amendment is to ensure that finally that actually happens.

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