Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am grateful for the reflective, passionate, heartfelt, well informed and well studied responses of all Senators. I have listened carefully and taken notes, while others have done so on my behalf. I will review what Senators have said because it is quite profound. It is rooted in their different professional expertise and also their way of listening to the people who have spoken or written to them. Each Senator does this differently and there is diversity in what they have said. It is a significant aspect for me, as Minister, as I try to make this law. I hope they know this and thank them for it.

I could not possibly respond on all of the different issues Senators have raised, but we will, no doubt, have time to do so as we move through the process, perhaps when we come back to take Committee Stage, or in other exchanges we will have inside or outside this Chamber, to which I look forward. I am wide open to the criticisms of Senators at whatever level. Several themes have come through in what has been said by Senators which I do not need to mention because we have heard them. When remarks become thematic and advocates emphasise the same things, it means that they are the issues to which we need to pay attention when we are considering whether to come back to the House with a new law or amendments to this one. That is my responsibility. It is great to hear those themes.

I want to say a couple of other things, rather than come back on the issues that have been raised, because, as I said, we have other ways of doing so. I want to share two pieces of information from the perspective of Tusla as it is important that people be aware of them. Some Senators will know this already. I do not think it will come as any surprise to Senator Bacik because she has spoken to Tusla, but it is important for us, as law makers, to know what is going on.

I will mention a couple of things about the impact of the general data protection regulation, GDPR, in the provision of an information and tracing service. I referred to this issue is my comments when I was here last, but the Bill is vitally needed to provide Tusla with the statutory legal basis it requires to deliver an effective information and tracing service. The data protection legislation and the GDPR have seriously curtailed Tusla in this work. Let me give some specific examples because I asked my officials to work on the issue and talk to Tusla about it. First, Tusla can no longer access information held by other data controllers, including those in the United Kingdom. I am informed by it that the number of people it cannot locate has increased since the introduction of the GDPR. The reason is other data controllers such as the church and the HSE are prevented from sharing information with Tusla as there is no legal basis for them to do so. The GDPR brings with it significant penalties for data controllers in breach of their duties. At an operational level, this that means Tusla can no longer gain access to records such as baptismal certificates, a matter to which I have referred. The archbishop told me this directly in my office with some of his people. They are not happy about this and would like to be able to access these records. I understand church parish offices were a key source of information, as baptismal certificates show a child's name at birth and the mother's maiden name. That is one example.

Under the GDPR-----