Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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553. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will clarify whether the transfer of data and-or records from his Department, that is transferred to other Departments, State bodies and local authorities, is in aggregated form or on an individual basis; and the reason the data and-or records are provided. [3076/24]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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My Department has a wide range of functions and shares personal data with other bodies in the course of the exercise of those functions or the provision of public services to individuals. Sharing of personal data may also take place in response to a valid lawful request from another public body such as An Garda Síochána.

My Department’s remit incorporates responsibility for child protection and welfare, prevention and early intervention, adoption, family supports, early learning and childcare, youth services and youth justice, legacy issues in relation to Mother and Baby Institutions, areas of equality, integration, international protection and disability policy, providing and co-ordinating the provision of emergency short-term accommodation and assistance for Ukrainian Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection.

Personal data is only shared by my Department where there is an appropriate legal basis to do so having regard to the circumstances of the data sharing.

Data sharing with other bodies can involve aggregated or individual-level personal information.

The sharing of personal data on an individual basis takes place with a range of entities for reasons and purposes including, but not limited to, the following -

Department of Foreign Affairs:

-to process visa waivers for beneficiaries of the Irish Refugee Protection Programme.

Office of the Revenue Commissioners:

-to support eligibility checks for the Temporary Wage Subsidy Childcare Scheme programme; and

-to receive confirmation that organisations in receipt of Departmental funding have a valid Tax Certificate number.

Local Authorities:

-for the provision of services relating to the transfer of Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection from Ukraine to temporary accommodation in the context of the Temporary Protection Directive (2001/55 EC).

Ombudsman for Children:

-to support the National Childcare Scheme appeals process.

Pobal:

-to administer the Access and Inclusion Model scheme and host Better Start to support the delivery of the scheme.

National Council for Special Education:

-to facilitate the planning and to co-ordinate the provision of education and support services to children with special educational needs pursuant to the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004.

Central Statistics Office:

-to the Central Statistics Office under the Statistics Act 1993 for the purposes of assisting the exercise of their functions.

Health Service Executive:

-to support a child with medically complex needs in accessing and participating in the Early Childhood Care and Education Scheme setting by providing nursing support in the setting.

Department of Education:

-to facilitate inspections to services providing the Early Childhood Care and Education Scheme programme; and

-to facilitate a cross-referencing exercise with children enrolled in the Early Childhood Care and Education Scheme programme and in doing so support the administration, supervision and controlof the Early Start programme administered by the Department of Education.

Department of Social Protection:

-to determine eligibility for supports relating to the National Childcare Scheme;

-to assist in the provision of PPSNs and activating payments for Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection upon request; and

-to facilitate post-arrival/resettlement of beneficiaries of the Irish Refugee Protection Programme.

The sharing of aggregated data takes place with a range of entities for reasons and purposes including, but not limited to, the following –

Department of Education:

-to facilitate school place planning;

-to provide closure and new registration figures as part of keeping stakeholders informed of updates in the early year’s sector; and

-to provide Early Childhood Care and Education Programme enrolments data to feed into the “Education at a Glance” publication for the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (“OECD”).

My Department is cognisant of its responsibilities as a data controller including meeting the transparency requirements under the GDPR. The Department’s Data Protection Policy affirms the Department’s commitment to protect the rights and privacy of individuals and the sharing of personal data is notified to data subjects through individual Privacy Notices associated with the various data processing activities including the sharing of personal data with other bodies.