All political parties asked to explain social media activities and databases

Use of electoral register information has come under scrutiny 

Sinn Fein spokesperson on housing Eoin O Broin said the party is "very keen to continue engagement" with the Data Protection Commission on how the party targets people on Facebook and whether it gathers more information than is necessary while doing so. Photo:Gareth Chaney/Collins

All political parties are to be invited to an Oireachtas committee to discuss their social media activities and information databases.

The move follows a request from Fine Gael senator John Cummins to the chair of the Housing and Local Government committee, Green Party TD Steven Matthews, that Sinn Féin be asked to explain the use of its Abú database.

During a private meeting of the committee on Tuesday, however, Sinn Féin resisted that idea.

A compromise put forward by the Social Democrats and Fianna Fáil was reached wherein all parties will be invited to discuss their use of the electoral register and their data protection measures.

Mr Cummins' letter to Mr Matthews said that it was important that the matter was discussed in the context of the Electoral Reform Bill, which is currently before the committee.

"I believe there is an onus on our committee to set aside time to invite a senior representative(s) of Sinn Fein before us to answer a series of questions on the reports that data is being gathered online and integrated into their Abú voter system. It would also be prudent in this context to invite the Standards in Public Office Commission to a committee hearing.

The learnings from these interactions could and should have a bearing on the Electoral Reform bill which we are currently examining. 

t is crucial that this bill is robust enough to ensure that all parties in this state operate on a level playing field and that protections are implemented to avoid outside interference in our democratic system."

Sources said that Sinn Féin argued in the meeting that the statutory responsibility to ensure data was used responsibly was with the Data Protection Commission, however they had no issue with all political parties being invited to come in and talk about how they use the electoral register.

Mr Cummins proposal fell and the second proposal, that all parties come before the committee was agreed, suggested by Fianna Fáil, the Social Democrats and Sinn Féin was agreed.

"The general feeling was lots of parties use different systems and more transparency would be fine," one committee member said.

In light of the committee overseeing the electoral reform bill, it was basically agreed it would be better to invite all parties in at a future date.

The Data Protection Commission wrote to Sinn Féin last week with questions over how the party targets people on Facebook and whether it gathers more information than is necessary while doing so. 

The party's Housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin said the party had responded in writing "giving full responses to all the questions". He said the party is "very keen to continue engagement" with the commissioner's office.

Mr Ó Broin said that the party of the view that it is "fully compliant" with the 2018 Data Protection act.