Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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847. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the way in which data is protected in cases in which a recipient is switched from one payment to another, for example, from jobseeker's benefit to jobseeker's allowance and so on; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13390/20]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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My Department administers over 70 schemes and has the legal basis to collect and process personal data for the administration of these schemes.

The Department has also a legal basis to collect personal data for a specific reason and use it for another compatible purpose.  This is because the Department provides a wide range of related services and it would be impractical for the Department, and inconvenient for the person, if customers were repeatedly asked for the same information.

An example of this is the information that may be supplied by a person for a Jobseekers claim.  This information may be used to later provide education or training supports or supports such as the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance or the Fuel Allowance.  In this way, the Department is better able to help the person with their income needs and to progress from dependency on a welfare payment into employment.

Another example is that information that may be provided by a person for a State Pension might be used to allow the customer to receive a free-travel pass or a household benefits package.

My Department takes data protection obligations very seriously.  In order to protect the personal data of its customers across all the schemes, the Department has in place a set of corporate data protection policies, standards, procedures and guidelines governing the use of computer systems and customer data.