James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The amendment was sought by the Data Protection Commission in support of its ability to carry out its functions under GDPR in an effective, efficient and lawful manner and to ensure fair procedures are maintained for data controllers and data subjects. I will give an example. The Data Protection Commission will, from time to time, need to engage with parties other than the entity whose processing is under examination. For example, to enable complainants and, in some circumstances, representative bodies that may have referred matters of concern to the Data Protection Commission to exercise their right to be heard or to express their views on the matters under examination, it is important that the Data Protection Commission is able to share relevant material with those parties. The material that might need to be shared will depend on the circumstances of each individual inquiry but may include drafts of Data Protection Commission decisions as well as information and material that might have been received from the data controller or processor under examination. It is important that the Data Protection Commission is able to share this material with those parties but on a confidential basis to ensure it is retained as confidential.

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