Funding increase of €3.5m for Data Protection Commission in Budget 2019

Today's Budget 2019 announcement included a funding increase of €3.5m for the Data Protection Commission (DPC) which will allow the office to recruit 40 additional staff.

The DPC welcomed the additional funding which it said is critical to continuing to build the DPC's capacity as an internationally respected supervisory authority.

€3.5m extra for @DPCIreland in 2019. Total annual funding now €15.2m. Additional funding will allow for further significant recruitment of approx 40 staff bringing number of staff to approx 180. Further detail available at https://t.co/gzb1XCOLPI #dataprotection #eudatap pic.twitter.com/ISumcIfc5z

— Data Protection Commission Ireland (@DPCIreland) October 9, 2018

The introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) on 25 May this year has seen the DPC's workload increase and the additional staff will ensure that it remains fit-for-purpose.

The increase brings the total funding allocation for the DPC to €15.2m, representing a further 30% increase on the 2018 allocation.

The Commissioner for Data Protection, Helen Dixon, in commenting on the additional funding stated that, “the Government’s recognition of the need to fund an independent and well-resourced data protection authority is very much to be welcomed."

The DPC's recruitment programme in 2019 will focus on additional staff in areas such as complaint and breach investigation, legal, and in particular to further strengthen the technology team with the capacity and expertise to regulate the use of personal data in emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence.