John Whelan (Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Office of the Data Protection Commissioner was established under 1989 legislation. Given recent developments involving Irish Water, concerns about people having to offer up their PPSNs to agencies, banks and authorities, including Irish Water, and matters before the courts involving the improper dissemination of private and personal information, is the legislation underpinning the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner fit for purpose any longer? Is it sufficiently robust? Do we need to revisit it to allow the Legislature to catch up with the many developments in computerisation since 1989?

We must address whether the deterrents for the wrongful use of individuals' data are sufficiently strong to prevent the misuse of personal private information such as PPS numbers. While the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner has provided a great service, it operates with as few as 30 staff based, following decentralisation, in Portarlington.

Could the Leader facilitate a debate through the Office of An Taoiseach, who has line responsibility for this service, and the Data Protection Commissioner so that we can be sure the legislation supporting the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner is adequate, sufficiently robust and relevant in this day and age and also that we have a full commitment from the Government to the decentralised office in Portarlington, the staff there and its resources?