A&L Goodbody (LexBlog Ireland)

On 15 December 2020, the Minister for Health announced Ireland’s National COVID-19 Vaccination Strategy. The first vaccine was approved for use on 21 December 2020, with the first dose administered in Ireland on 29 December 2020. A second vaccine was approved for use on 6 January 2021 and the approval of additional vaccines is anticipated...

On 6 April 2020, the Data Protection Commission (DPC) published a report on the use of cookies and other tracking technologies (Report) and an updated guidance note on cookies and other tracking technologies (Guidance). The Report is based on a review carried out by the DPC of websites in various sectors in Ireland, including insurance,...

The Minister of Finance has passed new Regulations, the Data Protection Act 2018 (section 60(6)) (Central Bank of Ireland) Regulations 2019, permitting data subjects’ rights under Articles 12-22 and Article 34, and controllers’ obligations under Article 5 GDPR, to be restricted to the extent necessary and proportionate to allow the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI)...

For the first time, the Irish High Court has been asked to make a blocking order in regard to the illegal live streaming of Premier League games. Instead of watching Premier League games through legitimate and licensed services, some people were seeking to do so free of charge. The Court granted the blocking order, requiring five...

In the case of Eva Glawischnig-Piesczek v Facebook Ireland Ltd (Case C-18/18), the Advocate General (AG) of the Court of Justice (CJEU) was asked to clarify the scope of the obligation that may be imposed on a host provider to remove illegal information. Article 15(1) of the e-Commerce Directive 2000/31/EC (the Directive) prohibits Member States from...

On 1 May 2019, Ms Helen Dixon, the Data Protection Commissioner (DPC), appeared before the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.  She was invited to testify on Ireland’s implementation of the GDPR, as the US is considering introducing a federal data privacy framework. California has already passed a new data privacy law, the California Consumer Privacy...

The Data Protection Commission (DPC) has published its Annual Report for 25 May-31 December 2018. As always, the Report reveals some interesting statistics and case studies. In the coming months, the DPC expects to conclude a number of statutory inquiries, which it launched in 2018, into multinational technology companies with EU headquarters situated in Ireland....

By any measure, 2018 was a historic year for data protection law with the coming into effect of the GDPR on 25 May 2018.  Ireland plays an important role in the regulation and enforcement of data protection law and decisions of the Irish courts have had a disproportionate impact on European data protection jurisprudence. With the...

Ireland succeeded in enacting the Data Protection Act 2018 prior to today’s GDPR deadline, with the President signing the Act into law yesterday. The Act implements derogations permitted under the GDPR and represents a major overhaul of the regulatory and enforcement framework.  This briefing note analyses the key provisions under the Act and its likely...

Last October 2017, the Government published the General Scheme of the Communications (Retention of Data) Bill 2017 (the Bill).  The draft Bill was published in response to Chief Justice Murray’s Report, which reviewed the law concerning the retention of and access to communications data held by communications service providers, and recent decisions of the EU Court of Justice (CJEU) in the...

The Minister for Communications, Denis Naughten, has confirmed that plans to appoint a Digital Safety Commissioner for Ireland (DSC) will go ahead in 2018. The DSC will act as an ‘Internet regulator’, with powers of enforcement and responsibility for a ‘notice and takedown’ regime, to ensure the online safety of Internet users. The proposal for...

In Aldi Stores (Ireland) Limited and Aldi GMBH & Co. KG v Dunnes Stores [2017] IECA 116, Dunnes Stores (Dunnes) succeeded in its  appeal against a High Court ruling that its 2013 comparative advertising campaign against Aldi was contrary to EC (Misleading and Comparative Advertising) Regulations, 2007 (the 2007 Regulations) and the Consumer Protection Act,...

In Muwema v Facebook Ireland Ltd [2017] IEHC 69, the Irish High Court refused to grant a Norwich Pharmacal order against Facebook, requiring disclosure of the identity and location of an anonymous third party operating a Facebook page containing defamatory content. The Court found that if Facebook disclosed such information it would endanger the life...

On 13 September 2016, the Central Bank of Ireland (the CBI) published new guidance on IT risk management and cybersecurity for financial service firms. Publication of the Guidance follows the CBI’s previous actions in relation to cyber risks in the funds, insurance and banking sectors (see previous blog here). The CBI acknowledges that IT plays...

The High Court in Muwema v Facebook Ireland Ltd [2016] IEHC 519 held that Facebook had no duty to remove defamatory content posted by an anonymous third party. Justice Binchy did, however, make a Norwich Pharmacal order requiring Facebook to disclose the identity and location of the person operating the page involved. Background Mr Muwema...

The Pensions Authority has recently published a consultation document that proposes several reforms in relation to private pension schemes in Ireland. The stated aim of the Authority is to ensure that pension schemes are fit for purpose which, in the Authority’s view, means the schemes should be “well managed, cost efficient and understandable to their...

The Advocate General has given his Opinion in a case concerning the interpretation to be given in a national context to the judgment of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) in 2014 in Digital Rights Ireland (which found the EU Data Retention Directive to be invalid). The Advocate General found that an obligation...

The US Second Circuit Court of Appeals, overturning an earlier court ruling from a lower court, has held that the US Government cannot compel Microsoft to hand over emails stored on a server in Dublin in a narcotics case. The decision is a milestone victory for privacy rights and will be greatly welcomed by US technology...

Digital Rights Ireland (DRI) intend to serve legal proceedings on the Government in the coming days, claiming that the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC) has acted in breach of EU law by failing to ensure that the Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) exercises her role independently. The High Court is to be asked to make...

The Office of the Data Protection Commissioner is to get a €1.2m increase in funding for 2016. Minister for European Affairs and Data Protection, Dara Murphy announced the measure, under Budget 2016, and said that the increased resources are bring provided to “ensure that Ireland continues to have an excellent regulatory and enforcement regime for...

On 14 September 2015, Minister of State for International Financial Services Simon Harris TD launched the FPAI, a new trade association founded to further the interests of stakeholders involved in the rapidly evolving Irish FinTech sector.   FinTech (financial technology) is the term used to describe any technology applied to financial services. Across the broad...

The Irish High Court has issued a significant decision in Aldi Stores (Ireland) Limited & anor v- Dunnes Stores (No.2) [2015] IEHC 551holding that a plaintiff is entitled as of right to an injunction where a trade mark is infringed in the course of a comparative advertising campaign even where the advertising campaign in question...

In January of this year the Department of Finance (the Department) launched a Public Consultation Process (the Consultation) on the proposed introduction of a corporation tax incentive for income generated from intellectual property (IP) known as the Knowledge Development Box (KDB)(see earlier blog Knowledge Development Box – Launch of Public Consultation Process – “Ireland will...

The Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (DCENR) published its draft Broadband Intervention Strategy this week as part of its plan to provide the entire country with high-speed broadband. Despite setting a relatively low minimum threshold of 30mbps, particularly in light of the increased prevalence of 4G phone networks and broadband speeds of up...

We are increasingly asked by overseas clients whether, if they acquire a business or a company in Ireland which operates a DB Scheme in Ireland, they could be liable to the DB Scheme even though the acquirer may not participate in that scheme.  UK clients are particularly concerned by this issue given their experiences with...

Between agenda items at a recent meeting of the Association of Pension Lawyers in Ireland conversation turned to the type of matters our various firms’ pensions practices are currently working on. What was surprising was the amount and range of pensions-related litigation.  The issues being litigated included scheme wind-ups, employer capital reduction applications and creditors...

The Pensions Board’s deadline for the submission of responses to its consultation on the simplification of defined contribution pension provision passed at the end of February.  The consultation sought views on a number of different issues. These ranged from the number of different pension vehicles to pension adjustment orders to disclosure requirements. A&L Goodbody have...