Ireland, Joint Committee on Justice and Equality debate - Wednesday, 14 June 2017

Published in
32nd Dáil
Publication month
June
Publication day
14
Publication Year
2017
The debate concerned a bill on Data Protection. The discussion focused on the content of the Bill and how the Bill gives effect to EU Rules, including provisions of EU Regulation 2016/679 concerning the right to protection of personal data and the right to freedom of expression and information which are both included in the Charter. The Charter had an impact in the sense that it was included in the EU Regulation and then subsequently in the Bill but it did not impact on the debate.
Mr Carroll from the Department of Justice and Equality explains what is to be included in the Bill. He states at one point: ‘Head 24 seeks to give effect to Article 85 of the regulation, which recognises that it is a matter for member state law to reconcile the right to the protection of personal data with the right to freedom of expression and information, both of which are rights included in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.’
Mr Carroll later states: ‘Moving on to Part 6, without prejudice to the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, both the regulation and the directive require that data subjects have the right to an effective judicial remedy. Provision for this is made in head 91. Recourse to the courts is necessary in any event in those cases in which a data subject claims compensation for material or non-material damage suffered as a result of a breach of data protection law. Head 90 makes provision for the appointment of a supervisory authority to supervise the processing activities of courts when acting in their judicial capacity. Article 8 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights provides that compliance with its rules shall be subject to control by an independent authority.’