Outgoing Data Protection Commissioner Helen Dixon to join Comreg

Helen Dixon was appointed to the role of Data Protection Commissioner in September 2014.

Outgoing Data Protection Commissioner Helen Dixon has been named as a new commissioner at Comreg, the communications regulator.

Ms Dixon, who will exit the Data Protection Commission (DPC) after nine years in the role next February, has been appointed to Comreg by Minister for Communications Eamon Ryan following an open competition.

She officially announced her exit from the DPC on Wednesday, stating on her LinkedIn account that “new pastures” awaited her in 2024.

Her exit was slightly ahead of schedule — her ten-year term was due to end in September of next year.

Mr Ryan said that Ms Dixon will bring “considerable national and international experience to this role, particularly in an evolving regulatory and legal framework where telecoms and postal sectors have seen rapidly accelerated digitalisation”.

“This will further strengthen the leadership required to stay abreast of major developments in the digital sector, ensure an appropriate regulatory response to challenges and opportunities, and proactively engage with consumers,” he said.

Ms Dixon’s appointment will bring Comreg to its full complement of three commissioners.

It's understood that a competition to appoint a replacement for Ms Dixon at the DPC is already in train, in tandem with similar competitions seeking a further two commissioners to the privacy regulator.

Experience

Her tenure at the DPC saw her reappointed for a second five-year term in 2019, having first taken the role over from Billy Hawkes as the State’s sole data commissioner in 2014.

Previously, Ms Dixon spent ten years working within the IT industry before holding senior roles in the Department of Enterprise.

Her time as commissioner coincided with the role becoming a major one in European affairs due to Ireland's position as the European home for many major tech giants, including Facebook, Apple, and Amazon.

As such, Ireland is the lead body in any data issues relating to these companies in a European context.

Closer to home, Ms Dixon also showed she was not afraid to hold State agencies to task, as evidenced by a two-year legal battle with the Department of Social Protection regarding the alleged illegality of its marquee public services card project.