Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senators for their contributions. I appreciate what Senator Higgins is trying to do with these amendments. I assure the House that all Ministers take data protection assessments as well as data protection seriously and are governed in our duties by the GDPR. We sought the views of the Office of Parliamentary Counsel, OPC, on this matter and consulted the Data Protection Commissioner during the development of the Bill.

I am satisfied that amendment No. 77 is not necessary, as section 49 is subject to the Data Protection Act 2018. We have received legal advice that the Act already provides for data protection impact assessments.

As Senator Higgins outlined well, amendment No. 78 proposes to include a provision whereby personal data obtained under this section shall not in any circumstance be used for commercial purposes. The legal advice we have received from the OPC is that this amendment is not necessary because the section is subject to the 2018 Act, which provides that data can only be processed by the HEA as necessary and in a proportionate way for it to perform specific named functions.