Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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77. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when her Department officials last met with the Data Protection Commissioner to ensure the highest standards are being met by the Department, and all agencies under its remit, in terms of compliance with data protection legislation. [14437/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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My department is committed to the highest standards of data protection compliance for the personal data it processes and takes its obligation with data protection legislation very seriously.

My department engages with the Data Protection Commission to discuss potential data processing changes as necessary and consults with them formally where required.

Engagement with the Data Protection Commission is just one of the many actions taken by my department to ensure compliance with the GDPR and the Data Protection Act. My department has put in place the appropriate technical and organisational measures in order to ensure compliance, as outlined in the Data Protection Policy available here: www.gov.ie/pdf/?file=.

Such measures include mandatory training for all staff, appointment of a Data Protection Officer and publication of privacy notices to inform data subjects how their data is being processed and of their rights in relation to same.

Agencies under the remit of my department are separate data controllers legally and are responsible for their own compliance with data protection legislation. Where data sharing between my department and these agencies occurs, agreements have been put in place to govern this.