Results 11,101-11,120 of 26,396 for speaker:David Cullinane

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (26 Sep 2019)

David Cullinane: Is that where the fine of up to €1 million can be applied?

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (26 Sep 2019)

David Cullinane: Ms Dixon mentioned earlier that the commission publishes various reports, one of which was the final investigation report into the public services card. We examine the issue from a value-for-money perspective, although that is not Ms Dixon’s remit and I have questions for her about the process and the report. The Committee of Public Accounts has dealt with this issue previously, as...

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (26 Sep 2019)

David Cullinane: At the time questions were raised about a renegotiation of the contract, which was based on the publication of 3 million cards. Until 2016, only 2.1 million cards had been published and as part of the renegotiation, the State had to pay approximately 50% of the difference between how many cards had been produced and how many had been intended to be produced.

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (26 Sep 2019)

David Cullinane: We do not have the up-to-date figures for 2017 or 2018.

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (26 Sep 2019)

David Cullinane: I recall that Mr. McCarthy stated at the time that there was an estimated cost of €60 million.

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (26 Sep 2019)

David Cullinane: I raise the matter because we will put the questions to the Department but they are not for Ms Dixon. Can we write to the Department and seek up-to-date figures in advance of representatives of the Department appearing before the committee? I refer to figures on the cost up to the present day.

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (26 Sep 2019)

David Cullinane: Turning to the report, it was a significant aspect of the commission's work this year. People will have concerns about some of the findings, which have been very much in the public domain. There were a number of high-level findings, such as that there was no lawful basis for the Department to rely on the SAFE 2 register, that the Department has not complied with the data retention principle...

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (26 Sep 2019)

David Cullinane: As is common between State bodies and regulators or people who have a supervisory role, there were professional differences of opinion between Ms Dixon and the Department on some of the core elements of her report. Is that a fair statement?

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (26 Sep 2019)

David Cullinane: In the preparation of the report, I imagine that Ms Dixon had to rely on legal opinion. One of the core issues was a difference of opinion on the legal underpinnings of the card and its workings. Did Ms Dixon rely on in-house legal advice or was she obliged to purchase an external legal opinion? If the latter, what was the cost?

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (26 Sep 2019)

David Cullinane: That was not bad. In a reply to a parliamentary question on the issue and on Ms Dixon's report, the Minister, Deputy Regina Doherty, stated:The Department sought to meet the DPC on two occasions since receipt of the report with a view to outlining the basis for its conclusions and seeking to clarify a number of matters of concern relating to inconsistencies both within the DPC's report and...

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (26 Sep 2019)

David Cullinane: I accept that. I just wanted Ms Dixon to put that on the public record because I think that is important. I used the phrase "professional disagreement" earlier. When I read the report I think it goes a bit further than that because I am looking at the sections that talk about when Ms Dixon had a draft report and a reply was sought from the Department. What we are looking at is process and...

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (26 Sep 2019)

David Cullinane: I know Ms Dixon has to be diplomatic, but to say it is "not the norm" is an understatement. I can imagine what I would do if I was in her position and I got 470 scanned pages. I imagine that what she was looking for was a formal, intelligible response and what she got was 470 scanned pages. Was there a follow-up to that? Did Ms Dixon write back to the Department and say that was not...

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (26 Sep 2019)

David Cullinane: Page 22 of the report states the Department was responding to the report. It says, however the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection objects to the DPC's use of such language in this regard. That was to describe the evolution of the card in the first place and considers that it is "pejorative and sensationalist". Again, that strikes me as not being fully co-operative, in...

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (26 Sep 2019)

David Cullinane: Departments can have entrenched and strongly held views but they also have to fairly co-operate with Ms Dixon's office, as anybody does, because as I said earlier, the Data Protection Commission's reach is into both the public and private sector. We must have regard when we receive correspondence, as we do, to data protection. We must do it as individuals and as Members of the Oireachtas....

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (26 Sep 2019)

David Cullinane: This is my final question. I am aware that other members want to contribute as well. I thank Ms Dixon for her responses. A number of Departments were using the card, namely, the Departments of Transport, Tourism and Sport, Education and Skills, Justice and Equality, Foreign Affairs and Trade, Children and Youth Affairs and Employment Affairs and Social Protection. Following the...

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (26 Sep 2019)

David Cullinane: It has been reported that the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport has in some areas ceased using the card. From Ms Dixon's knowledge - I know she cannot speak about what she does not know - which Departments have changed their practice? She has given a direction. Are Departments still operating outside the law from her perspective? They might have a different perspective on the...

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (26 Sep 2019)

David Cullinane: The question I put was partly related to that but also to Ms Dixon's view that some Departments are still operating outside of the law. Her findings were that there was no legal basis for the card beyond the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection and that data were held by the Department in a way which was potentially illegal, from her analysis. Is that still the case today?

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (26 Sep 2019)

David Cullinane: That is then subject to this appeals process or enforcement process.

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (26 Sep 2019)

David Cullinane: Where is that at the moment? What is the timeframe for when will there be some conclusion to that?

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (26 Sep 2019)

David Cullinane: I thank Ms Dixon.