Ireland: Privacy Protection

How is the Irish Data Protection Commission responding to unprecedented complaint volumes driven by AI-generated submissions? What are the most common mistakes controllers make when handling subject access requests, and why is transparency becoming a critical enforcement focus?

The Central Bank of Ireland’s (CBI) consultation on its Regulatory Impact Assessments and Approach to Consultation closes for feedback on 30 September 2026.

The Court of Justice of the European Union has drawn a critical distinction between company-owned systems and employee-owned devices in competition investigations, establishing that workplace communications retain Charter protection regardless of their business nature.

The European Commission has been informed that Ireland has not fully transposed the Pay Transparency Directive by the 7 June 2026 implementation deadline.

The Government published the Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2026 on 26 June 2026 in advance of commencing the remaining provisions of the Planning and Development Act 2024.

The European Commission presented its Tech Sovereignty Package, a framework to strengthen capacity across the digital technology stack, from chip design and manufacture through to cloud, AI and data centre infrastructure. It comprises four measures which we outline in our briefing: The EU Tech Sovereignty Package: Key measures explained.

The European Parliament and Council are racing to finalize the EU AI Digital Omnibus Regulation before the AI Act's August 2026 deadline, with both bodies proposing significant amendments to address implementation challenges and fundamental rights concerns. Key areas of negotiation include extended timelines for high-risk AI systems, new prohibitions on non-consensual intimate imagery, and revised requirements for AI literacy and data processing.

The European Data Protection Board has issued comprehensive guidelines on processing personal data for scientific research under GDPR, establishing six key factors to determine what qualifies as legitimate scientific research.

This briefing provides an overview and summary of the key developments in international data transfers that took place over the course of 2025.