James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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12. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if she will be progressing the recommendations of the 2021 report of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice on the general data protection regulation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35657/22]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I have noted the report of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the General Data Protection Regulation. As the Deputy will be aware, many of its 17 recommendations are directed to the Data Protection Commission itself.

Under the GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, the Commission is independent in the performance of its tasks and the exercise of its powers.

It does not report to me or my Department, nor has my Department any oversight or enforcement powers in relation to the Commission. The Commission operates under its own Vote, since January 2020, with its own accounting officer and lays its reports and accounts directly before the Houses of the Oireachtas.

The Programme for Government commits to ‘recognise the domestic and international importance of data protection in Ireland’ and states that the Government ‘will ensure that Ireland delivers on its responsibilities under the General Data Protection Regulation’. The Government is very conscious of the commitment to deliver effective data protection regulation and protection of the data privacy rights of EU citizens, which is critical to the development and growth of our digital economy. In dialogue with the Commission, and with other relevant Government Departments, my Department’s role is to ensure that it continues to have the resources required to fulfil its important, statutory obligations, under on-going review.

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. To support this, there has been a year-on-year increase in funding for the Commission over the last four budgetary years. This year, the total allocation for the Commission is €23 million – a six-fold increase compared to 2015.

Recognising the expanding breadth of the Commission’s regulatory role, its mission to safeguard data protection rights, and the increasing demands, this increased budgetary allocation to the Commission in 2022 will enable the recruitment of additional specialist and technical staff and address the increasing case load and complexity of cases being faced by the Commission.

Under the 2018 Act, provision is made that the Government may determine that the Commission could consist of up to three members. I asked my officials to consider the matter of appointing additional commissioners. Department officials have made a recommendation and this is now under consideration.