Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 July 2020
338. Deputy Seán Haughey asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the names of observers appointed to the most recent election observer roster; the outcome of the consultation with the Data Protection Commission regarding this matter having regard to the General Data Protection Regulation; the advice received from the Data Protection Commission; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16502/20]
Amharc ar fhreagra342. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the persons on the most recent election observer roster. [16766/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 338 and 342 together.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade administers and maintains a roster of suitably skilled individuals who are available to deploy on international election observation missions organised, in the main, by the European Union (EU) and the Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE-ODIHR).
A new roster was mustered in 2018/2019. As the 2019-2023 roster exists within the framework of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Department gave careful thought to the justification, and the legal basis, for publishing the names of roster members. This included detailed consideration of the Guidance Note on the Legal Bases for Processing Personal Data, which the Data Protection Commission (DPC) issued in December 2019. It also included separate consultations with the DPC and the roster members. Those consultations concluded on 10 July 2020. In accordance with GDPR article 6(1)(f), I am releasing these names to the public record by attaching them to this response.
The DPC noted that the Department had carried out a comprehensive analysis of the necessity and proportionality of the processing, as well as a balancing exercise between the rights and freedoms of the data subjects involved and the public interest, and had also identified appropriate safeguards for the personal data. The DPC raised a number of important matters: the GDPR right to be forgotten, the possibility of other information being inferred, or inferable, as a result of publication of the names, and whether there had been incidents of members of the roster having suffered harm as a result of being identified. The DPC stressed that it would be essential to communicate any changes to members of the roster, to ensure that their feedback is heard. Finally it was advised that the data privacy notice provided to members of the roster should make explicit to them how they can exercise their data protection rights. This has all been done.
The Department has given full consideration to the feedback of roster members and is satisfied that there is a legitimate interest in attaching the names to the public record and that appropriate safeguards have been put in place. Among these safeguards was the decision to publish the names of volunteers on the roster in the format surname, initial (i.e. MURPHY, Z.). This is intended to balance transparency against the privacy of volunteer roster members, in a societal context of digitized lives and potential intense social media curiosity.
Information on the Missions to which Ireland has contributed observers, and the costs and flight emissions associated with 2019 and 2020 missions, is available on the Irish Aid website. 2020 Missions are currently suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I look forward to our resuming nominations once the pandemic has receded.
Attached to the response to this Parliamentary Question is the list of names of the members of the 2019-2023 roster.
The Department of Foreign Affairs is satisfied that there is a legitimate interest in accordance with article 6(1)(f) of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in attaching to the public record the names of members of the 2019-2023 international election observation roster. The legitimate interest is the demonstration of accountability and transparency in the administration of the roster. The persons listed below were given advance notice of publication.
