Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 23:

In page 30, between lines 14 and 15, to insert the following:“(4) (a) Such regulations shall be referred to the Data Protection Commissioner before their enactment, who shall conduct an impact assessment, undertaken by the Data Protection Commission.

(b) The impact assessment shall have the purpose of ascertaining whether the proposed processing of special categories is—

(i) necessary,

(ii) proportionate,

(iii) is in compliance with subsection (4)of this section, and

(iv) is in compliance with the GDPR.

(c) The impact assessment, shall be returned to the Minister within three months of the Ministers referral, and it shall make recommendations as to whether the proposed processing of special categories is in compliance with the criteria laid out in paragraph (b)and shall recommend any changes necessary to the regulation to ensure compliance, or may recommend that the Minister not proceed with the regulation.

(d) In the event that the Minister does not follow the recommendation of the Commission, the Government shall publish inIris Oifigiúila reasoned written explanation of the decision of the Government not to follow the recommendation of the Commission.

(e) In the event that the Minister does not follow the recommendation of the Commission, the Government shall cause to be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas a statement containing a reasoned written explanation of the decision of the Government not to follow the recommendation of the Commission.”.

Amendment No. 23 would see the Data Protection Commissioner be granted the powers to assess the request to release personal data if it is in the public interest. This potentially pulls the subjectivity of what is deemed to be in the public interest on the part of the Government of the day. These amendments are trying to not necessarily curtail but to almost democratise ministerial discretion. I again alert colleagues about this and I will wait to hear what the Minister has to say but we have deep concerns about this section. We believe this amendment would add greatly to the Bill. I will listen to what the Minister has to say.