Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)

Many thousands of people receive rent allowance from the HSE. To the best of my knowledge, they must know their landlords but because of the Data Protection Act are not obliged to inform local authorities about them. Is it intended to amend the Data Protection Act so this type of information might be shared by the various agencies? That was one of our reasons for tabling the amendment in the first place because under that Act the Revenue Commissioners are exempted from obtaining that type of information. That is another area that must be addressed in greater detail in this Bill. If he does not have the information, perhaps the Minister might get back to us on this matter. The whole area of data protection and the sharing of information concerning two landlords, whether the PRTB, the local authority, or whoever, must be addressed on Report Stage. Currently the HSE is not obliged to give landlords' names to local authorities.