Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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286. To ask the Minister for Finance further to Parliamentary Questions (details supplied), if he can justify Revenue's unlawful destruction of the 13.3 million call recordings without a disposal authorisation given its own records retention schedule stipulates: "no class of Revenue records can be destroyed without first obtaining a disposal authorisation from the Director of the National Archives."; if he accepts Revenue's attempt at obtaining an retrospective disposal authorisation is an admission of guilt, if he accepts Revenue's destruction constituted a personal data breach under Article 4(12) GDPR, contrary to the National Archives Act 1986, as maintained by Article 6(2), absent a legal basis under Article 6(1); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32328/25]

Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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287. To ask the Minister for Finance further to Parliamentary Questions (details supplied), if he will confirm that the original message on Revenue's LPT Helpline on 22 March 2024, on 30 May 2024 and on 17 August 2024 stated the call "will be recorded" and "may be used for training and verification purposes" by callers without limit in case of dispute, will he confirm the original message had changed to his quote by 17 February 2025; if he will confirm "inbound and outbound" had been added by 15 May 2025 but omitted from his quote; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32329/25]

Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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288. To ask the Minister for Finance further to Parliamentary Questions (details supplied), if he will confirm that the original message on Revenue's LPT Helpline on 22 March 2024, on 30 May 2024 and on 17 August 2024 gave callers a legitimate expectation their recordings would be available to them for "verification purposes" without limit in case of dispute; if he will confirm the destruction constituted further processing incompatible with its original purpose, contrary to Article 5(1)(b) GDPR and Recital 39 GDPR; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32330/25]

Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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289. To ask the Minister for Finance further to Parliamentary Questions (details supplied), if Revenue notified the Data Protection Commission of the 13.3 million breaches within 72 hours of becoming aware of them, in accordance with Article 33(1) GDPR; the date on which Revenue did notify the DPC thereof; if Revenue is under investigation by the DPC in relation thereto; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32331/25]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 286, 287, 288 and 289 together.

I am advised by Revenue that the disposal of call recording records was undertaken without a corresponding disposal authorisation from the Director of the National Archives. Revenue’s current request to the National Archives for a disposal authorisation for call recordings is to address this administrative oversight and to put in place the correct authorisation for future disposals.

I am further advised by Revenue that, in 2024, the pre-recorded message for all calls to the Local Property Tax (LPT) helpline stated, “This call will be recorded for training and quality purposes”. The pre-recorded message did not refer to retention for “verification purposes”. This pre-recorded message was in place for the whole of the year 2024 and this was the sole basis and purpose for the recording of such calls. On 29 January 2025, the LPT helpline was moved to Revenue’s new contact centre telephony platform. At this time, the pre-recorded message changed to “For quality and customer satisfaction purposes, inbound and outbound calls may be recorded”, so as to align with other Revenue telephone services.

Revenue does not consider the destruction of the call recordings, in accordance with the “Schedule of Records” and “Records Retention and Disposal Policy” published on Revenue.ie, to be a personal data breach for the purposes of Article 4 (12) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Revenue has advised that the retention period of 6-12 months is considered sufficient time for any queries/disputes regarding the call recording to come to light and to address potential disputes about the detail of the call. Accordingly, the deletion of the call recordings in accordance with this policy does not constitute further processing incompatible with its original purpose.

Furthermore, Revenue’s lawful basis for the use of and access to taxpayer information which these call recordings contain are set out in Section 851B(2) of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997. Where subsection (c) states that taxpayer information shall be adequate, relevant and not excessive in relation to the purposes for which it is processed. Revenue had regard to this provision in support of its decision to delete the recordings.

As Revenue does not consider the disposal of call recordings in accordance with the record retention schedule to be a personal data breach, therefore when call recordings are disposed of Revenue does not notify the Data Protection Commission.