Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)

I have been following this proposal from the European Commission since June. Honestly, when I first read of it I was surprised it was not in place already. Iceland and Norway are two functional members of the wider European community that are associated with Schengen. We deal with them regularly and we can have great faith in their systems, rule of law, respect for rules around data protection and those kinds of things. We are dealing with two countries and the notion that there are passenger flights or other transport from Ireland to Iceland or Norway and that we are prohibiting those jurisdictions from collecting passenger data seemed to be very strange. We all know how much information we share with air carriers. They are obliged to collect that information because of other instruments that have been put in place. It is not just names and dates of birth. It is also passport numbers, nationality and other information that airlines have about people. While the airlines are bound by the general data protection regulation and other instruments, the notion that they would not share that information and those data with other allied countries is, to my mind, nonsense.

I absolutely welcome this proposal. It makes perfect sense. Again, these are two countries with which we co-operate on lots of different levels and I welcome the fact that we will now be sharing this information with them or, rather, we will be allowing the air carriers to share that information with them. We know in real terms that this will help prevent and detect crime and help the agencies that deal with human trafficking, drug trafficking and all the other crimes we know take place across transport networks. It will help to detect these crimes and solve them when the time comes to bring about prosecutions in respect of them. It is a perfectly sensible measure that I welcome. As I say, I am almost a small bit surprised it has not happened already. Most importantly, however, these countries are allies of ours with which we deal all the time and it is right and proper that we should have enough trust in them to share this information. There is almost no instance I can think of when Ireland, as a member of the European Union, has not benefited from data-sharing arrangements with other countries in the European Union. As a small country in Europe, we benefit enormously from the data and the co-operation that are shared between us and other member states, often countries that have much bigger apparatuses and much greater access to resources. When, as a small country, we form part of those networks, we always benefit. Therefore, I have no real concerns about this proposal. It makes perfect sense and I am very happy to welcome it.

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