James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for raising this issue which he has consistently raised in the House. The programme for Government commits to recognise the domestic and international importance of data protection in Ireland and states that the Government will ensure that Ireland delivers on its responsibilities under the general data protection regulation. The Government is very conscious of the commitment to deliver effective data protection regulation and protection of the data privacy rights of EU citizens, which is critical to the development and growth of our digital economy. In dialogue with the Data Protection Commission and with other relevant Departments, the role of my Department is to ensure that the commission continues to have the resources required to fulfil its important statutory obligations.

GDPR obliges member states to ensure that each supervisory authority is necessarily resourced to perform its tasks and exercise its powers. To that effect, the DPC is one of the largest EU data protection authorities in terms of budget and staffing. The DPC is funded under its own Vote as of 1 January 2020, with the commissioner being Accounting Officer. It has received an allocation of €23.2 million under budget 2022, a 22% increase on the €19.1 million that was allocated for 2021. This equates to a €4.1 million increase in pay of €3.2 million and non-pay of €900,000. Furthermore, the 2022 allocation marks a sixfold increase on its 2015 allocation.

There have been significant increases over recent years. Resources awarded to the DPC have risen steadily. Staffing numbers increased from 110 at the end of 2018 to 191 in December 2021.Recognising the expanding breadth of the commission's regulatory role, its mission to safeguard data protection rights and the increasing demands, this increased allocation in 2022 will enable the recruitment of additional specialist and technical staff and address the increasing case load and complexity of cases being faced by the commission.

Under the Data Protection Act 2018, provision is made that the Government may determine that the commission could consist of up to three members. Section 15 states that "the Commission shall consist of such and so many members (not being more than 3) as the Government determines". Section 16 provides that in the event of there being more than one commissioner, the Minister shall appoint one to be chairperson with a casting vote. In keeping with the Government's commitments, and as conveyed to the Dáil in a written reply in October 2021, Deputy Humphreys, then acting as Minister for Justice, requested officials of the Department to consider the matter of appointing additional commissioners to the DPC. This was done on the basis that if such a recommendation were to be made, it would require the Minister to bring a recommendation to the Government for decision. Department officials are continuing to review this issue and it is expected that a recommendation will be made to the Minister shortly.