Passport Services

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 8 September 2020

Tuesday, 8 September 2020

Ceisteanna (451, 461)

Catherine Murphy

Ceist:

451. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the breakdown of the information requested by public authorities, Departments and An Garda Síochána from the Passport Office data set in the past year to date in 2020; the number of requests for access to data in the past year to date in 2020; the number of times his Department has refused access; the schedule of bodies and number of requests made over the time frame; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21183/20]

Catherine Murphy

Ceist:

461. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the number and name of public authorities which requested passport application form and passport document data under the provisions of section 41 of the Data Protection Act 2018 for the period 29 January to 1 September 2020, inclusive; the number of requests received and declined in respect of each public authority; the data set information sought from each in each instance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22172/20]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Foreign Affairs

I propose to take Questions Nos. 451 and 461 together.

The Passport Service provides data when it is requested from public authorities only when it is satisfied it can do so in accordance with the GDPR and relevant sections of the Data Protection Act 2018. This request for information could include the data on a passport application form or on a printed passport document.

The data shared is the specific data requested by the public authority. The nature of the response is determined by the content of each request.

The following table outlines the public authorities which requested data under section 41 of the Data Protection Act 2018, and the number of such requests, from 29 January to 1 September 2020.

Name of public authority	Number of requests received	Number of requests rejected
An Garda Síochána	916	16
Europol	79	0
Interpol	555	3
Department of Justice and Equality	24	3
Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection	42	0
Office of the Revenue Commissioners	47	0
TOTAL	1663	22