Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 April 2019
130. Deputy Mick Wallace asked the Minister for Justice and Equality his plans to appoint additional commissioners to the Data Protection Commission as provided for in section 15(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018 in view of the large workload increases for the commission in terms of enforcement, investigation and supervision post the general data protection regulation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18148/19]
View answerAs I stated when introducing the Data Protection Bill in the Dáil and Seanad last year, the provisions concerning the appointment of additional members of the Data Protection Commission (DPC) are a future-proofing provision to allow, should the need arise, for such appointments. I have no plans at present to make such appointments and intend to keep this matter under on-going review.
Insofar as the increased workload of the DPC following the entry into force of the GDPR is concerned, staffing levels in the DPC have been increased in response: 25 new staff had joined the DPC by the end of December 2018 over the previous year, with further new staff members joining to date in 2019. This has brought the overall staffing level to more than 130, with the possibility of up to 30 additional staff members being recruited during 2019. The significant increase in staffing levels within the DPC has facilitated increased supervision, enforcement and investigation activity across both the public and private sectors.
The Government is committed to keeping the resourcing of the DPC under on-going review. My Department will continue to monitor the impact of implementation of the GPDR, the impact of any possible future regulatory changes as well as any changes within industry, in conjunction with the DPC, to ensure that the DPC continues to have the resources required to fulfil its important, statutory objectives.
