Seanad debates
Thursday, 3 April 2003
Data Protection (Amendment) Bill 2002 [ Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil ] : Report and Final Stages.
Amendment No. 13 follows comments made by the former Senators John Cregan and Farrell, and involves data relating to the handling of convictions, offences and sanctions. I do not object to the amendment – this matter must be handled sensitively. However, it is important for the purposes of research that we know the number of convictions, penalties and sanctions that have been imposed by the courts or other bodies. Is the Minister convinced that even when this amendment is put in place, from a legal perspective we will be able to have recourse to that information? In terms of the sanctions involved and the people who for example suffer burglaries, it is important that the actual numbers involved – not the personages, or the profiles of the cases – but the numerical information, should still be in place. This is very important for research purposes.
No comments