Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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120. To ask the Taoiseach the staffing complement and resources of his Department's data protection officer. [31502/18]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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My Department is committed to protecting the rights and privacy of individuals in accordance with the Data Protection Acts and the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

The Data Protection Officer (DPO) in my Department - who is at Assistant Principal (Higher) grade - is a member of the Information and Records Management Unit. There are currently 7.9 whole time equivalent staff working in the unit, which is headed by an Assistant Secretary General.

The DPO and a number of staff have already attended training courses on the GDPR and further training will be provided.

The Data Protection Officer also avails of advice from the unit within the Economic Division concerned with data protection and digital development. This unit contributes to a whole-of-Government approach to the challenges arising from the increasing digitisation of modern life and the associated significant increase in the amount of personal data generated.