The Minister for European Affairs and Data Protection, Mr Dara Murphy TD, has welcomed the significant reforms and additional resources allocated to Data Protection in Budget 2015.
The Government has decided that during 2015:
- The status of the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC) will be significantly upgraded, to the status of a separate Office of State, similar to the Central Statistics Office and the DPP, under the Department of the Taoiseach
- The ODPC will open a new office in Dublin while the existing office in Portarlington will also continue to operate as present
- Additional resources will be allocated to the Department of the Taoiseach for the development of Data Protection policy, under the guidance of Minister Dara Murphy
- The ODPC will have a separate Vote, with increased resources to support these reforms, from 2015
- The Department of Justice & Equality will continue to have an important role in Data Protection policy, reflected in Minister Murphy’s assignment to both Departments
Welcoming the decisions, Minister Murphy said:
“ The Government has set out a clear road map for the future of Data Protection in Ireland, that will both protect the rights of our citizens and enhance the opportunities for secure, quality employment in the ever-widening range of digital industries.
The additional resources in my own Department will be deployed to bring leading-edge thinking to policy development in this area, while the enhanced status and extra resources to be afforded the new Data Protection Commissioner, Helen Dixon, will ensure that Ireland continues to have excellent regulation that is also fully equipped to adapt to the ever-increasing pace of change in this area. ”
Note for Editors
The new Vote for the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner will be established from 2015 and will be included the Revised Estimates.