Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Indeed. Some of us travelled for three hours to get here. Some of us are away from home most weeks from Tuesday morning to Thursday evening. I suggest a little consideration be given to this or perhaps they might be a second briefing because we do not want to inconvenience people either.

Data protection is now a fact of life. Many data belonging to people are held electronically compared to what the position was 30 or 40 years ago when there was an entirely different scenario and set of circumstances when it was effectively a paper trail. Now many things are computerised. Computer systems can cross-reference data at a tap of a button. Information can now be procured extremely quickly. This legislation is being brought forward for a good reason. It is being brought forward in order that we can comply with our obligations as a member of the European Union and to citizens. Data collection and assembly are now big business and many people are employed in the area, in which many companies make money both in the collection and dissemination of data. Therefore, the legislation is long overdue.

I am concerned about how the legislation will affect not just political parties since many involved in political parties are volunteers but also sports organisations, community groups and individuals who donate millions of hours a week on a voluntary basis and who include children, youth, sportspeople and others.I have some limited knowledge of what the GAA has been endeavouring to do to comply with future legislation in this area. It seems to be on the money. I had a discussion with Seán Kelly, MEP, on this issue. He has recommended that other political and community groups look at what the GAA is doing in this area and the safeguards and protections it is putting in place. I have no doubt it is still learning but it seems to be well ahead of many other organisations. There is not an evening when community groups throughout the country are not being briefed or doing training on data protection. A month or six weeks ago there was a big conference in Croke Park at which a lot of community groups and volunteers became aware of data protection.

I look forward to Committee Stage. Our role in the House is to strengthen legislation to ensure there is a fair and equitable distribution of requirements and obligations. I heard what the Minister said about fines, enforcement and sanctions. There is merit in it and I look forward to hearing the arguments on Committee Stage. There is a lot in this Bill to get one's head around in terms of the various aspects and requirements. The opt-outs are there for particular reasons and the Minister has shed some light on it in his contribution. We have a lot of work to do on the Bill. I suspect Committee Stage will last many hours but ultimately we have an obligation to pass the Bill. It is necessary because there have been too many breaches of people's data rights. Too many of our citizens have been exposed as a result of breaches of data. We owe it to our citizens in this world of ICT to protect them and ensure the correct protocols, procedures and protections are in place.

I thank the Minister for an enlightening and detailed contribution.