Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party)
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483. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if he will provide an update on each specific recommendation outlined in the Oireachtas Committee on Justice report on GDPR from 2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25627/23]

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’.

As the Deputy is aware, the Data Protection Commission is statutorily independent in the performance of its tasks and the exercise of its powers. This is in line with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which states that supervisory bodies must be independent. Many of the recommendations made relate to the independent functions of the Commission, but I will provide an update on my department’s work in response to the report in question.

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 Commission continues to have the resources required to fulfil its important, statutory obligations.

To that end, resources of the Commission have risen steadily over recent years. The Commission is funded under its own Vote as of the 1st of January 2020, the Commissioner now being Accounting Officer. The Commission received an allocation of €26.2 million under Budget 2023, an increase of €3m from 2022 and a more than seven-fold from its 2015 allocation of €3.6m.

The Commission has seen significant increases in staffing in recent years to support its work. At the start of 2019, the total fulltime staffing equivalent was in the region of 108 and had increased to 196 at the end of 2022, to 205 in May 2023, with further recruitment due across 2023.

My Department’s role requires regular review of the legislation underpinning the Commission’s work to ensure that it is up to date and fit for purpose.

For example, the Courts and Civil Law Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2023 as passed by Dáil Éireann, includes a number of amendments to the Data Protection Act 2018. These include amendments to confer jurisdiction to hear data protection actions in the District Court as well as, as it currently stands, the Circuit and High Court. Additional amendments enable the Commission to issue reprimands in relation to a wider range of procedures.

On 27 July 2022, Minister McEntee announced that the Government had approved commencement of the process to appoint two additional Commissioners to support the evolving organisational structure, governance and business needs of the Commission.

These appointments will be made in accordance with Section 15 of the Data Protection Act 2018, which provides for up to three Commissioners to be appointed. Section 15(5) of the Act specifies that the Public Appointments Service shall recommend a person for appointment as Commissioner following an open selection competition held by the Service for that purpose.

The preparatory work for the selection competition is concluding currently and the positions are expected to be advertised shortly with appointments then to be made before the end of 2023.

When the appointment of two additional Commissioners was approved, Minister McEntee also asked the Commission to undertake a review of governance structures, staffing arrangements and processes. This review is being carried out to support the work to be performed by the new three person Commission model. This review is ongoing.