Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Although the hotline proposal is worth considering, it should be pointed out that a hotline might not provide an instant answer. The Office of the Data Protection Commissioner has been inundated with calls in recent months. It cannot get back to everybody immediately. It can do so over time. The provision of a hotline may or may not be the solution, but it is worth considering. We will bring it to the attention of the Data Protection Commissioner for the Senator.

If 500 or 600 people from all over the country try to ring the hotline at the same time, they might not be satisfied with the response they receive from within the resources that are available. The resources of the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner will be taken up with some of the bigger cases for a number of weeks. The Data Protection Commissioner has said she will take a very sympathetic approach in the early stages of the new regime. If people are trying to comply, that will be acknowledged along the way. That is something to point out as well. It is important to point out to Senator Higgins that the safeguards she mentioned will be built into the legislation as we go along.

I thank those who contributed to the debates on this Bill in both Houses. It has been a long journey, but it has been well worth it. Most Members of the Oireachtas who spoke on this legislation can be happy with the input they made. We look forward to seeing what will happen on 25 May next. Someone said to me recently that all the work will start on that date. It is important to thank the officials in the Department of Justice and Equality who spent many hours on this legislation, particularly when drafting Committee Stage amendments. The long hours they worked meant they had many sleepless nights. I thank Séamus Carroll and the team in the Department of Justice and Equality for their efforts. I hope many Irish companies will be GDPR-compliant by 25 May. It is important for all companies, including micro-enterprises and small enterprises, to be GDPR-compliant as we move forward because it will mean more business for them. Ireland needs to lead the way in embracing digital technology because that is the future of work and the way it is going.