Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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239. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the status of the development of the criminal justice operational hub, in particular the development of agreed definitions and methods of data collection in line with best international standards by the stakeholders involved. [8985/19]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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The Department of Justice and Equality is managing a program of work to deliver a “Criminal Justice Operational Hub” (CJOH). The CJOH responds to the need for improved data interoperability which has been a long-standing objective of the criminal justice system and has been recommended in a range of internal and external reviews.

It will provide a centralised facility to allow for data to be (i) exchanged between the existing ICT systems in the criminal justice agencies and (ii) accessed in an anonymised format for the purposes of analysis and developing evidence-based policy.

It is anticipated that by the end of 2019 the CJOH will start sharing defined sets of data between relevant CJS agencies in order to improve service delivery. This constitutes the first phase of this project. Any further phases will be the subject of analysis and evaluation prior to going ahead.

The project is led by my Department in collaboration with the following agencies: An Garda Síochána, The Courts Service, Irish Prisons Service, The Probation Service, the Legal Aid Board, Office of the DPP, Forensic Science Ireland, the Policing Authority, and Irish Youth Justice Service. The CSO is already involved with several of these agencies on data projects, including data quality enhancements, and the Programme is also engaging with the CSO on data modelling and the anonymisation process.

In line with data protection law, the sharing of personal data between the relevant agencies is necessary and proportionate to the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of criminal offences and to execute criminal penalties. A Data Sub-Committee of the project, in consultation with Data Protection Officers from the Department and the relevant agencies, oversees compliance with the Data Protection Act 2018, the Law Enforcement Directive and GDPR as applicable. In accordance with the Act, a Joint Controller and Controller/Processor agreement will be put in place.