MINISTER FOR Justice Dermot Ahern has set up a review process to examine data protection legislation in light of concerns arising from recent data breaches in Ireland and elsewhere.
The process will be led by a small review group, chaired by a former secretary general at the Department of Finance, Eddie Sullivan, and which includes data protection commissioner Billy Hawkes.
The chief focus of the group's examination will be on whether changes are required to data protection legislation to deal with breaches.
The group will also be asked to examine the issues of mandatory reporting of breaches as well as possible penalties.
The group's remit will also include a review of international, including EU, approaches in this field and an assessment of the regulatory and economic impacts that any possible changes to the law would have.
The personal details of 380,000 social welfare recipients were on a laptop computer which was stolen from a member of staff at the Comptroller and Auditor General's office in April 2007.
Last April, Bank of Ireland informed Mr Hawkes's office that four laptops with details of over 31,000 of its customers had gone missing 10 months earlier.
The Minister said: "In our modern society, the services and facilities we avail of increasingly involve the recording of our personal data by both private and public bodies.
"Given recent experiences, there is an understandable concern in the public mind at reports of data being lost or mismanaged.
"Various suggestions have been made as to how data protection legislation ought to be amended to address these concerns, and I intend to get a broad assessment of these complex issues and the possible impact of any changes, taking account of the international experience, where a variety of approaches have been attempted.
"I am asking the group to make early interim recommendations if they consider there are any matters that can be dealt with expeditiously," Mr Ahern added.
The membership and formal terms of reference of the group are being finalised and its first meeting is expected "within weeks".