Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I understand the reason for the differentiation but am suggesting that that must be made clear in the legislation. It does not really address the issue of entities being wholly or partly funded by the State because although the Minister of State gave the example of local authorities, another example is a company providing homecare services and which is partly funded by the State and needs to have data shared with it for the purpose of its activities on behalf of the State. However, it may also be a commercial company. The question is whether data, potentially in respect of vulnerable individuals, that might be provided by the State to such company would potentially be usable by it in its private or commercial activities. Such data may include health data, which is a special category of information, and that would raise further questions in terms of what is appropriate. That is the key question. Homecare may not be the right example but I am highlighting concerns in regard to commercial companies rather than local authorities. I am happy to park the amendment. It seems that the Minister of State does not yet have an opinion on the question of safeguards and regulations but I believe it needs to be addressed. Does the Minister of State plan to put in place safeguards in regard to entities which are partly publicly-funded and partly commercial entities in order to ensure that public data is used only for one purpose? It is a very clear question.