Green Party TD for Dublin South-Central, and the Green Party Spokesperson for Justice, has called again for the appointment of three Data Protection Commissioners in Ireland along with a review of policy and procedures. He was speaking following this afternoon’s meeting of the Oireachtas Committee on Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht in Leinster House where concerns around online disinformation and media literacy were being discussed.

Deputy Costello said: “Facebook whistle-blower Frances Haugen in her testimony before today’s committee meeting show again the fact that around the world that the office of the Data Protection Commission is seen to have stepped back from its responsibilities in properly enforcing GDPR. It is quite clear that we need the implementation of the Oireachtas Justice Committee’s recommendations issued last July  – appointment of the full complement of permitted commissioners and an independent review of the DPC’s policies and procedures.”

Deputy Costello concluded “Ms Haugen’s testimony today was quite illuminating and concerning. As was her statement that, ‘the tech companies on your shores have, once again, got away with it’. We need to ensure that we take data protection seriously and that nobody ‘gets away’ with breaking the law whether that be on our streets or in our cyber domains.”