Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I should never have given any indication that I intended doing anything without agreement or the prior approval of Senators. Many of the amendments made by Dáil Éireann arise from proposals and suggestions first made during the early discussions here and most of them go in the direction advocated during those discussions. I trust, therefore, that they will find ready acceptance here this evening.

The first group of amendments is concerned with the membership and operation of the data protection commission, established in Part 2 of the Bill. The following amendments form part of this group. Amendment No. 1 adjusts the Long Title to the Bill. Amendment No. 9 inserts subsections (3) and (4) in section 12 to clarify that the commission is designated for the purposes of Chapter 4, mutual assistance with the Council of Europe's data protection convention - these provisions are currently in section 15 of the 1988 Act. As regards section 15 on the membership of the commission, amendment No. 11 clarifies that the Public Appointments Service shall recommend a person for appointment as commissioner following an open selection competition held for that purpose, and that it should appoint a selection panel for that purpose, according with the normal Public Appointments Service procedures for selection in respect of such appointments.

Amendments Nos. 12 to 14, inclusive, deal with the retirement age of the commissioners. Amendment No. 15 replaces section 18, regarding the acting commissioner, with a more detailed text which precludes a member of staff acting as a commissioner from exercising certain specified functions more appropriate to the commissioner. Amendment No. 16 amends section 20 to clarify matters relating to the assignment of staff to the data protection commission. Amendments Nos. 17 to 23, inclusive, involve technical changes to section 23, which deals with the accounts of the commission.

Amendments Nos. 83 and 84 incorporate a reference to the data protection commission into section 92 in order to safeguard investigations and prosecutions taken by the commission under Part 5, an issue which exercised Senator Ó Donnghaile and other Senators. Amendment No. 85 clarifies that the commission is not a supervisory authority for courts when acting in their judicial capacity under Part 5.