in the area of data protection, equality, energy, transport, financial services) play an essential role in implementation and enforcement. There was no cooling-off period between the appointee working as a lobbyist for the tech industry and becoming Ireland’s Data Protection Commissioner. This is inimical to the role of independent data protection supervisory authorities under the Charter and to the credibility of the Union’s data protection regime. [35] This is the first and only such action ever taken by any data protection supervisory authority. Since one of the two sitting commissioners has no prior expertise in data protection, the members of Ireland’s data protection supervisory authority include only a single individual who may claim to have any depth of knowledge on data protection.

Source: The Irish Times October 28, 2025 13:05 UTC