As the Deputy is aware, the general data protection regulation, GDPR, is an EU regulation, by which Ireland is bound. The European Court of Justice is responsible for the interpretation of European law, including the GDPR. The right to be forgotten is a data protection right, which the European Court of Justice developed in 2014 after the Google Spain case.
In this ruling, the court established that users could ask search engines to hide certain URLs from search results when a search is conducted using their name and when the content on the page the URL points to includes information that is "inadequate, irrelevant or no longer relevant, or excessive". The right to be forgotten affords individuals the ability to exercise control over their personal data. They can decide the information about them that is accessible to the public through search engines. While it gives people the right to seek the deletion of their data, what it does not do is guarantee this will happen. The court established in the Google Spain case and subsequent cases that the right to be forgotten should not apply in cases of information that is relevant to the public interest, including previous convictions. It is important to stress that there has to be a right for individuals to apply and, as set out clearly in the Google Spain case, it is not an absolute right. In cases where there is a public interest element, including previous convictions, that request may be refused. The court ruled that the companies processing the data must determine in each case whether it is in the public interest to retain the data.
I want to be very clear in saying that the general data protection regulation, GDPR, does not give convicted sex offenders an automatic right to have their previous convictions deleted from search engines. While it is not open to me, as Minister for Justice, to change the application or, indeed, interpretation of the GDPR rules, I understand the Deputy’s concerns and I am determined, as in so much of the other work I do, to prevent serious criminals from hiding their pasts. The Sex Offenders (Amendment) Bill, which, as the Deputy is aware, is progressing through the Oireachtas, will ensure that the system for monitoring sex offenders is robust. The Bill includes a number of amendments to the sex offenders register, specifically in regard to notification requirements, as well as providing for electronic tagging, a prohibition on convicted sex offenders engaging in certain types of employment and other measures.