More than 100 complaints made to the Data Protection Commission (DPC) remain unresolved more than five years after they were lodged.
The DPC said there were 111 cases dating from May 2018 to 2020 that have still not been finalised.
There were a further 102 complaints received in 2021 that are still open, according to data released under FOI.
A further 155 cases from 2022 are still unresolved, while 248 complaints from 2023 are still considered open.
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Figures from the DPC also show a sharp rise in the number of complaints lodged last year.
They said a total of 3,681 complaints were received in 2025, up nearly a quarter on the 2,986 cases from 2024.In 2022 and 2023, complaint numbers remained relatively static with 2,857 and 2,940 lodged, respectively.
There were a further 3,583 cases recorded in 2021 and 13,817 from mid-2018 through 2020.
Since May 2018, the DPC said it had received almost 30,000 complaints, of which around 3,900 were “not yet concluded.”
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In an information note, the commission said that the vast majority of cases from before last summer had been concluded.
The DPC said: “Approximately 2.5 per cent of complaints received prior to 2024 remain open.
“These in the most part consist of cases awaiting the conclusion of a DPC inquiry, the outcome of related litigation, or some other factor such as the complexity of the issues being examined.”
The DPC also acknowledged the uptick in the number of complaints filed last year and said the final figure may yet rise further.
“Some cases received … in the latter half of 2025 are undergoing initial assessment and may subsequently be categorised as complaints,” the note said.
“It should be noted that the figures provided only relate to cases received by the DPC that have been assessed and accepted as complaints.”
