Proposed Data Sharing Agreement between the Department of Justice and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DSA for citizenship data)

The DSGA Framework for sharing data builds upon the Data Sharing and Governance Act 2019 by setting out a common set of practices for all public bodies to follow when they wish to use the Act as their legal basis for sharing data. Under the Framework, Data Sharing Agreements between public bodies for the purpose of sharing personal data will be made available for public consultation for a period of 28 days. A full list of these consultations is available at Item was unpublished or removed

The Department of Justice is intending to enter into a Data Sharing Agreement (DSA) under the Data Sharing and Governance Act 2019 with the Department of Foreign Affairs for the sharing of Citizenship data.

The Department of Justice issue Naturalisation Certificates to persons meeting the relevant criteria necessary to obtain such certificates. Based on this certificate, persons will make an application to the Passport Service in the Department of Foreign Affairs for an Irish Passport. In order to issue a Passport, the Minister must be satisfied as to the identity of the applicant and that they are an Irish Citizen. Further the Minister may process such personal data, in respect of an applicant for a passport as are required for the issue of a passport to the applicant and the maintenance of the integrity of the system for issuing passports. The Passport Service uses the information provided to verify the validity of the Naturalisation Certificate received from the applicant.

The proposed Data Sharing Agreement for the sharing of this personal data, DOJDFA_001_220203 - DSA for Citizenship Data, is now available for public consultation.

You are invited to make submissions by email to consultations.dsa@per.gov.ie

Please include the full DSA name “DOJDFA_001_220203 - DSA for Citizenship Data” in the subject line. Please note that only submissions made to this email will be accepted.

The start date for public consultation is 10 February 2022 and will run for a period of 28 days. The public consultation will end on 9 March 2022. Submissions will not be accepted once the public consultation period has expired.

The Department of Justice and the Department of Foreign Affairs will consider your submission and may respond. Where those proposed parties consider it appropriate, they may also amend the proposed agreement to take into account your submissions. A copy of the DSA and a summary of all submissions will be sent to the Data Governance Board.

The DSGA Data Sharing Playbook which provides a full step-by-step process for data sharing is available on the OGCIO Data Governance website. More information on the Data Governance Board is available on the Data Governance Board website.

• (Please note that this PDF document will also include a Data Protection Officer (DPO) statement and a Data Privacy Impact Assessment (DPIA) where applicable).