The Data Sharing and Governance Bill 2018 was recently published by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Mr. Paschal Donohoe, T.D., and the Minister of State for Public Procurement, Open Government and eGovernment, Mr. Patrick O ’Donovan, T.D. following approval by the Government. The Bill is currently at Report Stage in the Seanad.
The purpose of the Bill is to improve the sharing of data between public bodies to reduce transactional costs for business and enhance the delivery and evaluation of public services. The Bill, which is compatible with the new EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), will also strengthen the governance arrangements for the management of data across the public service in accordance with national and EU data protection law.
My Department fully supports the forthcoming enactment of the Data Sharing and Governance Bill as it will reduce the administrative burden placed on individuals and businesses as they will not have to supply the same information more than once to public bodies. In the interim, my Department continues to ensure that data sharing practices involving the transfer of personal data are conducted in accordance with the Data Protection Acts 1988-2018.