Carol Nolan (Laois-Offaly, Independent)
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574. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the total budget allotted to the Data Protection Commission for each year from 2016 to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8445/23]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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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. My Department’s role is to ensure that the Data Protection Commission (DPC) continues to have the resources required to fulfil its important, statutory obligations.

The DPC received an allocation of €26.2 million under Budget 2023, an increase of €3m from 2022. This means that funding has increased by more than seven-fold from its 2015 allocation. This is detailed in the Table below. The DPC’s budget allocation allows for recruitment of up to 283 staff by end of 2023, which is an increase of 25 staff on the sanctioned figure for 2022.