The Data Protection Commission (DPC) has welcomed its allocation of €19.1 million, announced by the Government in Budget 2021, an increase on the €16.9 million allocated for 2020.

Commissioner for Data Protection, Helen Dixon said this afternoon: “The DPC is at the front line of EU data protection regulation and the increased funding announced today, in what are very difficult economic times, is vital for the DPC to continue to build its capacity as an internationally respected and effective supervisory authority.

“We very much welcome the fact that the Government has listened and understood the need to adequately resource regulation in this area.”

Volumes

The introduction of the GDPR in May 2018 has given rise to a significant increase in work volumes in the DPC, handling more than 85,000 office contacts, 16,000 complaints, 14,000 breach notifications and over 3,000 guidance requests.

“As a regulator, the DPC must intervene in areas of systemic risk to the data protection rights of the public and we will continue to progress and finalise the statutory inquiries that we have open,” commented Helen Dixon.

Increased funding has allowed significant DPC staffing expansion in the areas of legal, technology, investigations and communications, with a current cohort of 150.

Annual funding allocation 2014-2020

• 2020 – €16.9million,
• 2019 – €15.2million,
• 2018 – €11.7million,
• 2017 – €7.5million,
• 2016 – €4.7million,
• 2015 – €3.6million,
• 2014 – €1.9million.