Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 3 February 2022
185. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the interactions he has had with the Data Protection Commission concerning the policy necessity of the Birth Information and Tracing Bill; the view that the Commission expressed to his Department with regard to the need for bespoke legislation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5427/22]
View answerA key recommendation of the final report of the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation was to introduce legislation providing for a clear right of access to birth information and a statutory tracing service. As part of the Action Plan for Survivors and Former Residents of Mother and Baby and County Home Institutions, the Government committed to progressing this legislation as a priority.
My Department gave serious consideration to all possible options, including the question of whether current data protection law is sufficient to allow full unredacted access to birth certificates and birth information in all cases. In December 2020, I received correspondence from the Data Protection Commissioner that dealt with a number of matters, including the Government commitment to advance legislation to provide access to birth certificates and birth information.
In that correspondence, the Commissioner stated that, in the absence of this bespoke legislation, data protection law is being tasked with striking the balance of rights between the right to identity and the right to privacy and data protection, and that data protection law alone cannot reconcile the conflict between these distinct and separate rights. The Commissioner also confirmed that the right to access data is not absolute.
My Department has continued to consult the Data Protection Commission (DPC) throughout the process of preparing the legislation and matters raised by that Office have been addressed in the drafting of the Bill. The Department completed a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) following the publication of the Heads of Bill which was shared with the DPC. As is good practice, the DPIA was updated to take account of the development of the Bill. The DPIA was published alongside the Bill and other explanatory material in January 2021, and can be found on my Department's website.
The DPC participated in the pre-legislative scrutiny process, appearing twice before the Joint Oireachtas Committee. They signaled their support for the legislation at those appearances, and outlined their engagement with my Department. They also provided a general comment on the draft DPIA as a "considered approach to identifying and mitigating any risks to the personal data of individuals arising from the operation of the Bill's provisions, both in terms of those making requests under the Bill and receiving data, and those other persons and third parties to whom the data might relate”.
