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

Amendment No. 32 in the name of Senator Higgins is very similar to amendment No. 29, which arises out of Committee Stage proceedings. Amendment No. 29 provides that, as part of the data-sharing agreement, public bodies will formally undertake to share data in accordance with the principles of data protection in the GDPR. This was agreed on Committee Stage and I indicated that I would revisit the matter. I ask the Senator to reflect on the matter and withdraw her amendment.

The subject matter of amendment No. 31 is already provided for in section 18(1)(i), which requires a data-sharing agreement to “specify the security measures to apply to the transmission, storage and accessing of personal data in a manner that does not compromise those security measures”. Accordingly, the amendment is unnecessary and I ask the Senator to withdraw it.

I do not have a difficulty with amendment No. 33 because it is proposed in the context of GDPR. We discussed the matter to which it relates at length on Committee Stage. Without prejudice, it does not limit the right of a person or data subject in respect of any data controllers in the data-sharing agreement. I do not have a difficulty with that and I propose to accept the amendment.