ICCL discusses digital omnibus and Ireland's GDPR enforcement track record

Dr Johnny Ryan, senior fellow at the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL), has published a statement given to the Oireachtas Committee on Justice concerning the European Commission's Digital Omnibus packages, as well as raising significant concerns about Ireland's data protection enforcement. 

In the statement, Dr Ryan highlighted the recent appointment of a former Meta spokesperson as Ireland's third Commissioner at the Data Protection Commission (DPC). He further noted that the previous Commissioner, Helen Dixon, recently joined Meta's primary law firm, which is currently involved in numerous legal actions against the regulator she once led.

The statement also criticised the DPC's history of resisting investigations and fines against Meta, suggesting this systematic under-enforcement against major tech companies harms children's mental health and European competitiveness. Dr Ryan argued that Ireland must stop acting as a permissive entry point for Big Tech to operate across the EU without substantive regulation. He urged the committee to reject proposals to weaken the GDPR and called for formal hearings into why no inquiries have been completed into Google.

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