Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I would not concur that it is more permissive. We need to look to the elements in section 38. I certainly would not have an objection if additional standards were to be imposed on top of the standards implied in section 38 of the Data Protection Act at the moment. This is why it was such a key point of interest. Section 38 of the Data Protection Act relates to the public interest. We all recognise that public interest is an important ground for exemption where data might need to be shared. We felt that public interest requires scrutiny. I imagine that a large number of those cases where public interest will be invoked will be situations where public bodies are sharing data with other public bodies. We do not want to hollow out the operation of section 38. I am happy not to press it at the moment but the Minister of State has not addressed the key questions I had, which were the concerns relating to committee scrutiny in the full sense, necessity and proportionality, the taking of advice from the Data Protection Commission, and the publishing of rationale. Those are the elements of section 38. I know there is a new process and do not mind it being done too but any new process needs to have those core elements reflected. The process that is planned perhaps falls short on a couple of those elements. Perhaps some happy compromise can be found. Those are the specific elements in section 38 that I am looking to protect.