Data Sharing Agreement for Inspections in Early Learning and Care Settings Data - DCEDIYDE 010_210722

The purpose of the Data Sharing Agreement is to facilitate the sharing of data between the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) and the Department of Education (DE) to enable the DE Inspectorate to carry out inspections of the quality of educational provision in early learning and care settings on behalf of the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. The DE requires details of early learning and care settings funded by the DCEDIY in order to schedule and carry out inspections of those services.

A previous data sharing agreement was in place between DCEDIY and DE under the Data Protection Acts 1988 through to 2018. However, with the commencement of Section 6 of the Data Sharing and Governance Act 2019, a new data sharing agreement is now required. The DSGA also requires that a public consultation on the data sharing agreement is carried out before it is implemented.

It is important to note that no practices in the sharing of this data are changing under this updated agreement.