Data Protection

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 3 March 2015

Tuesday, 3 March 2015

Questions (127)

Catherine Murphy

Question:

127. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Education and Skills if she is satisfied that her Department, by instructing schools to collect and hold personal data relating to primary school students and their family backgrounds, under the primary online database scheme, is not exposing those schools to potential legal difficulties; if, in view of Government legislative proposals relating to data sharing across Departments, she can guarantee that data collected under the scheme will never be shared, beyond the stated purpose for which it is gathered; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8828/15]

Written answers

Minister for Education and Skills

The legal basis for sharing the pupil data between schools and the Department is as laid out in Section 28 of the Education Welfare Act, which provides for the sharing of data for the purposes outlined in the act.

Section 28 of the Education Welfare Act 2000 allows for personal data to be transferred between the Minister for Education and Skills, recognised schools, the National Council for Special Education, and the Child and Family Agency, if it is used for a relevant purpose only, including "recording a person's educational or training history or monitoring his or her educational or training progress in order to ascertain how best he or she may be assisted in availing of educational or training opportunities or in developing his or her full educational potential". In addition under Section 266 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 there is provision for sharing information with the Minister for Education and Skills.

My Department has instructed schools to keep the data securely for future possible auditing by the Data Protection Commissioner.

My Department will ensure that the data collected in POD will not be shared beyond what the stated purposes for which it is collected.