Denise Mitchell (Dublin Bay North, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

1322. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the funding that has been allocated to the Data Protection Commission in 2021; and the funding allocated to the Commission in each of the years 2018 to 2020, in tabular form. [39095/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The figures requested by the Deputy are set out in the attached table. There has been a continued year-on-year increase in funding for the Data Protection Commission (DPC) over the last four budgetary years to reflect this commitment.

The Commission has received an allocation of €19.1 million in funding under Budget 2021. This represents a 13% increase on the €16.9 million that was allocated for 2020 and a more than five-fold increase from its 2015 allocation of €3.647m, in line with its increased functions.

Against this background of successive increases in budget allocation in recent years significant underspends by the Commission have occurred. These underspends have been €4.7 million in 2020, €4.8 million in 2019 and €3.6 million in 2018.

Staffing numbers in the DPC have also increased from 110 at the end of 2018, to over 180 as of 19 July 2021.

The Government is publicly committed to keeping the resourcing of the DPC under on-going review. My Department will continue to monitor the impact of implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the impact of any possible future regulatory changes as well as any changes within industry, in conjunction with the DPC, to ensure that the DPC continues to have the resources required to fulfil its important, statutory obligations. The existence of a professional and competent data protection regulator in Ireland is also a critical enabler to the development and growth of our digital economy.

My Department has also supported the Commission in securing new office accommodation, with sanction given for a new Dublin based premises by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform in May 2021.