Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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113. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if data protection breaches by a private investigations company (details supplied) were reported to her in 2014; her views on the fact that this company continued to operate as a private investigator firm, in view of the fact that it was convicted of breaching the Data Protection Acts; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7188/17]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I wish to advise the Deputy that the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner was established under Section 9 of the Data Protection Act 1988. Its statutory functions include the monitoring of implementation of data protection law, the investigation of complaints and, where appropriate, the taking of legal proceedings in the event of breaches of data protection rules. The Office is statutorily independent in the discharge of its functions and I have no role in relation to the processing of complaints.

The Private Security Authority (PSA), established under the Private Security Services Act 2004 (as amended), is the statutory body with responsibility for the licensing and regulation of the private security industry in the State. The criteria for the grant, refusal and suspension of licenses by the Authority are set out in Part 3 of the Act and the provisions for appeal of the Authority's decisions are set out in Part 5 of the Act. The Deputy may wish to note that the Authority has published its criteria for assessing convictions on its website, www.psa.gov.ie. The Authority is also statutorily independent in the discharge of its functions and I have no involvement in its day to day operations.