Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 9 Dec 2003

Vol. 576 No. 5

Written Answers. - Business Permission.

Damien English

Ceist:

378 Mr. English asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the reason his Department, in an application for business permission by a non-national, requests a statement of character from the police authority of each country in which he had resided, when the police authority, under the Data Protection Acts 1988 and 2003 - section 4 - does not empower them to provide information to a third party and does not provide a clearance or vetting procedure for employment purposes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29671/03]

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. McDowell):

Business permission is the permission granted by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to non-EEA nationals who wish to become established and engage in business in the State in a capacity other than as an employed person, for whom an employer would have to obtain a work permit. The criteria to be met by an applicant for business permission includes a requirement that the applicant must be of good character. In this regard, the applicants are requested to provide a statement of character from the police authorities of each country in which they have resided for more than six months during the previous ten year period. The giving of information to data subjects about themselves is a general principle of data protection legislation.