Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Regarding contributors to the confidential committee, how can they make a decision on whether they should have their names attached to their contributions if they do not have a copy of what they said? I agree with Senator Higgins in this regard. The advice is that people would be able to identify themselves within the report, such is the transparent manner of the representation of what they said. If so, why not just send them a copy anyway? That would be beneficial.

I believe the Minister stated that Tusla was undertaking a DPIA and that his Department had done one. We must clarify the context of those DPIAs. What processing were they attached to that resulted in this advice from the DPC on the blanket ban? A blanket ban is not permissible. There must be a proportionality and balancing of rights - the rights of the State, the greater good, or the commission versus the rights of the individual. Will the Minister elaborate on the context of the DPIAs and how they came into being? From the article, it appears that the commentary relates to the 2004 Act and the 2018 amendment of same, and is confined to saying that a blanket ban is unlawful and goes beyond what is necessary and proportionate. Will the Minister give us the context of the DPIAs? It may illuminate the article.