I plan to publish the legislation in relation to the national claims information database in the coming weeks, subject to approval by the Government. In drafting the Bill, my Department has kept in mind the need to ensure that data protection requirements are met.
In broad terms, the Bill as drafted will require the Central Bank to collect data from insurance undertakings for the purpose of producing an annual report. Insurance undertakings shall be required to use their best endeavours to ensure that the information is provided to the Bank in such a form that no individual is identifiable from it, and where an individual is identifiable, the Bank is required to ensure that the identity of that individual is not disclosed by it (in addition to any other Data Protection requirements). The data included in the Annual Report is also required to be combined in such a way that no individual or insurance undertaking is identifiable from it. Thirdly, while the Central Bank may provide any data collected to a person upon request, this power is subject to safeguards.
Finally, I am confident that the Central Bank of Ireland will meet the requirements of the Data Protection Act, 2018, in the performance of its functions in this regard.