Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I understand the Senator's points. I thank her for acknowledging that we have tried to address what we felt might be the shortcomings she identified. I cannot accept her amendments, but I accept the initial text was not sufficient in light of the developments in data-protection legislation at national and European level. I am grateful to the Senator for raising this important issue.

Consequently, I am proposing amendments Nos. 9 and 13 which will require QQI to align its data-sharing activities with the provisions of GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018 and other relevant national legislation in this regard. This will ensure that QQI adopts best practice in data protection and that the rights of the data subjects are protected. While the majority of QQI's data sharing will be conducted with public bodies, such as those listed, it is essential for QQI to share data with other bodies such as the CAO. That is not a public body and there are other similar private bodies. Consequently, this section cannot be limited exclusively to public bodies.