Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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26. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will provide in tabular form, the number of staff in his data protection office; if he has a specified data protection officer; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44732/14]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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In response to the Deputy's question while my Department does not have a specific Data Protection Office I can confirm that the Department itself is the legal entity or Data Controller that controls and is responsible for the keeping and use of personal information held on computer or in structured manual files.

Responsibility for the keeping and use of personal information on computer or in structured manual files is a matter for all staff in the relevant divisions.  All staff are expected to follow the eight rules of Data Protection which are binding on every data controller whereby they must obtain and process the information fairly, keep it only for one or more specified and lawful purposes, process it only in ways compatible with the purposes for which it was given to them initially, keep it safe and secure, keep it accurate and up-to-date, ensure that it is adequate, relevant and not excessive, retain it no longer than is necessary for the specified purpose or purposes and give a copy of his/her personal data to any individual, on request.

Additionally the Corporate Support Unit (CSU) of my Department has responsibility for registering the Department with the Office of Data Protection Commissioner each year.  The CSU also have responsibility for assigning any data protection requests received in the Department to the relevant divisions and liaison with the Office of Data Protection Commissioner as and when required.