Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Last Thursday, in The Washington Post, an article opened with the following paragraph:

Europe's ambition to lead the world on data privacy has a weak spot: Ireland. The country's Data Protection Commission works on behalf of 447 million EU citizens to defend their data from Meta Platforms Inc., Alphabet Inc. ... Microsoft Corp., Apple Inc. and roughly a dozen other tech giants — and it's been too lax on the job.

On Sunday, in the Business Post, in an excellent story by Aaron Rogan, the Data Protection Commission, DPC, itself acknowledged that it needed a radical reassessment of its structure as it is. This is what the commission said: "unsustainable and unfit for purpose". Yesterday we saw MEPs from all groups in the European Parliament whose members sit on the Parliament's committee on justice and home affairs write to the relevant European Commissioner and copy our Minister for Justice expressing concern about how the general data protection regulation, GDPR, is applied and enforced in Ireland and the operation of the Data Protection Commission.This has also been raised at the justice committee by its Chair, my friend and colleague Deputy Lawless. Last year, on 23 September and 18 November, I tabled Commencement matters in the House on the functioning of the DPC and the significant reputational risk to Ireland if we do not ensure it is properly structured and adequately resourced. Frankly, I do not believe the Government is taking this issue seriously enough. We need a debate on the role and function of the data protection commissioner. We need the appointment of three data protection commissioners. Given how important and serious this issue is, and given that it is increasingly being brought to global attention, it is time for the Government to wake up and take the issue of the proper resourcing and function of the DPC more seriously.

I also note we had a very good debate on China last week. At the time I raised the question, as I know colleagues have, of a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games. We have seen that President Biden's White House has announced it will engage with a diplomatic boycott in line with many other Governments to show their opposition to the human rights abuses of the Chinese Communist Party. How long more do we have to wait before the Department of Foreign Affairs finally makes up its mind?

I compliment RTÉ on the series "The Case I Can't Forget". Last night it showed the Don Tidey case. Next week will mark the anniversary of the murders of Private Patrick Kelly and Garda Gary Sheehan. We should always remember them. Their families are still entitled to justice for their murders.