Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Senator Conway made several important points. There are issues in the context of the Bill that require careful scrutiny along the lines he suggests.

As regards amendment No. 21, I listened carefully to the consideration given by its proposer, Senator Higgins, and, on reading section 42(a), (b) and (c), I do not see where there is any legal basis for the sharing of personal data revealing political opinions. I do not, therefore, see the necessity for amendment No. 21. I do not disagree with the points raised by Senator Higgins but she is reading far too much into section 42. There is no legal basis for the issues that she wishes to amend and amendment No. 21 is not required.

The purpose of section 42 is to give structure and substance to Recital 56 of the GDPR, which provides that "Where in the course of electoral activities, the operation of the democratic system in a Member State requires that political parties compile personal data on people's political opinions, the processing of such data may be permitted for reasons of public interest, provided that appropriate safeguards are established." It is a loosely worded recital. It is unusual that there is no corresponding substantive provision in the GDPR and the objective of section 42 is to limit potential misuse of recital 56 through making the processing for its purposes subject to suitable and specific measures, as referred to in section 32.

Amendment No. 19 proposes the deletion of subsection (b). Although I accept that the provision is drafted in a broad manner, the intention is to underpin any processing of political opinion data by a referendum commission. I note the point raised by Senator Ó Donnaghaile in that regard but I think he said he was not going to press it. However, I am willing to redraft that subsection in the context of a Report Stage amendment, which will trigger corresponding changes in sections 52 and 53.

Amendment No. 20 proposes the deletion of the words "a candidate for election to, or" in paragraph (c) of section 42. That would mean that although an elected representative could take advantage of the section, a candidate who might be competing and seeking election for the first time could not, which may be less than consistent. I do not believe that is the import of what Senator Higgins wishes to achieve, so I will not accept the amendment. We will return to this in terms of debating section 42 but I would be concerned at the introduction of unnecessary text.