Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

This amendment intends to remove from the Bill the provisions related to the ability of an employer to seek relative evidence of the circumstances in which an employee is taking leave for medical care purposes. The touchstone of policy development from a data protection perspective is that the design of the system should seek to achieve the minimum invasion of privacy rights, be they third party or otherwise, while also achieving the legitimate objective of ensuring that the employer concerned has the sufficient information they need to base any necessary decisions.

There is a legislative basis for the processing of such data through the general data protection regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018. Both the GDPR and the Data Protection Act will apply in relation to the obligations on an employer in terms of processing, storing and the destruction of personal information, be that third party or otherwise.

The provisions of the Bill strike the balance required in that they require the minimum information necessary. It is important to note they are in line with existing provisions in family leave legislation, in particular the Parental Leave Act, which this Bill amends. Information of a similar nature is sought for other forms of leave, such as parental leave, where information on the child can be requested, including on any disability. Similarly, for force majeureleave, a statement of facts must be provided to support the leave. We have achieved the correct balance, reflecting on the fact that the implementation of this request by an employer has to be done in a way that is GDPR-compliant.