Circular Economy and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2022

Codes of practice for purposes of sections 14A and 14B

22. The Act of 1996 is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 14B (inserted by section 21 ):

“14C. (1) The Local Government Management Agency shall, as soon as practicable after the coming into operation of section 22 of the Act of 2022, prepare and submit to the Minister for his or her approval a draft code or codes of practice for the purposes of setting standards for the operation of each of sections 14A and 14B.

(2) A draft code of practice referred to in subsection (1) shall, in respect of the section to which it relates, include provisions in relation to the following:

(a) the procedures and standards to be followed in the operation of the section including, where section 14A applies, in the installation of devices to be used in a CCTV scheme;

(b) confidentiality, security, storage, access to, retention, deletion and any other processing of, data gathered in accordance with the section;

(c) the circumstances in which data gathered under the section is to be disposed of or destroyed;

(d) the rights of data subjects in so far as they relate to the operation of the section concerned;

(e) such other matters, if any, related to the operation of the section that the Local Government Management Agency considers appropriate,

and the code or codes of practice may contain different provisions in relation to different types of devices or systems, in relation to different categories of persons and in relation to the different circumstances in which such devices or systems are operated.

(3) In preparing a draft code of practice under this section, the Local Government Management Agency—

(a) shall carry out or cause to be carried out on its behalf an assessment of the likely impact on data subjects of types of processing of personal data contemplated by section 14A or 14B, as the case may be,

(b) shall ensure that the assessment referred to in paragraph (a) contains the following:

(i) a general description of the type of processing operations to which the assessment relates;

(ii) an assessment of the potential risks to the rights and freedoms of data subjects as a result of that processing;

(iii) a description of any safeguards, security measures or mechanisms proposed to be implemented by the local authority to mitigate any risk referred to in subparagraph (ii) and to ensure the protection of the personal data in relation to the types of processing contemplated by section 14A or 14B, as the case may be,

and

(c) shall ensure that the draft code takes account of the assessment referred to in paragraph (a).

(4) Before submitting a draft code or codes of practice to the Minister under this section, the Local Government Management Agency—

(a) shall consult with—

(i) the Minister,

(ii) the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage,

(iii) the Minister for Justice, and

(iv) the Data Protection Commission,

(b) shall provide the assessment referred to in subsection (3) to the persons referred to in paragraph (a) before consulting with those persons, and

(c) may consult with any other person or body appearing to the Local Government Management Agency to have an interest in the operation of section 14A or 14B and such other person that the Minister may direct.

(5) The Minister may approve, with or without modifications, a code of practice submitted to him or her under this section.

(6) The Local Government Management Agency shall ensure that a code of practice approved by the Minister under this section is reviewed by it on a regular basis with the first review to be not later than 5 years from the date on which the code is first approved by the Minister, and, in the case of each subsequent review, not later than 5 years from the date of the previous review.

(7) The Local Government Management Agency shall consult with the persons referred to in subsection (4) when conducting a review under subsection (6).

(8) The Minister shall be informed in writing by the Local Government Management Agency of the outcome of a review under subsection (6).

(9) The Local Government Management Agency, following a review under subsection (6) or at any other time that it considers appropriate, may submit a further draft code of practice to the Minister to amend, revoke or replace, an existing code of practice, or to create a new code of practice or may request the Minister to renew the code which was the subject of the review.

(10) Subject to subsection (11), subsections (2) to (9) shall apply in relation to a draft code of practice submitted to the Minister under subsection (9) or a request made under that subsection to renew an existing code of practice as they apply to a draft code of practice submitted to the Minister under subsection (1).

(11) Subsection (10) shall not apply where the amendments being made to a code of practice are minor or technical only.

(12) A code of practice, renewed or approved, as the case may be, by the Minister under this section shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas by the Local Government Management Agency and shall be published on a website maintained by or on behalf of the Minister or the Government.”.