DPC Pleads Poverty as Pressure Mounts on Ireland
Ireland has been urged by the European Justice Commissioner to prioritise data protection reform during its term of Presi- dency of the Council of the European Union next year.
Ireland is due to com- mence its six month Pres- idency in January 2013, taking over from Cyprus. Speaking during a recent visit to Dublin, Viviane Reding said that, during the time of Ireland’s Presidency, the draft Data Protection Regula- tion “will come to a very crucial, a very sensitive moment.”
“As home to many innovative firms dealing with a lot of personal data, Ireland has a key role to play in shaping the new rules,” said Mrs Reding.
In response to Mrs Red- ing’s comments, the Data Protection Commissioner, Billy Hawkes, said that data protection authorities will need additional resources to carry out their broader European oversight responsibilities. He said “this is a key issue for us due to the large number of multina- tional companies handling personal data that have substantial operations in Ireland.”
It is not the first occasion that the DPC has called for increased funding for his Office (the ODPC). Launching his Annual Report in April 2012, Mr Hawkes said “Our resources are now stretched to beyond the limit.” He also warned that as the ODPC takes on greater responsibility over multinationals which choose Ireland as an EU base, failure to adequate- ly discharge the responsi- bility of monitoring the companies would “carry significant reputational risks for the country”.