Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I do not want to labour the point, but, as we go through the Bill, particularly the reason the data governance board and the concept of proportionality are taken as a given, in the sense that we must have regard to existing legislation and the GDPR, that we have put in place a data governance board to protect the interests of citizens and public bodies, that we have the backstop of the Data Protection Commissioner and that we have the role of the Minister, it is proportionate in what we are seeking to do.

Before we proceed further, I remind Members that in this legislation we are providing a legal basis for the sharing of data between public body A and public body B for the benefit of citizen X. It is not currently on the Statute Book and is a lacuna in the law that needs to be addressed.