This Privacy Notice tells you how the Service deals with (including by way of collection, use, or disposal) your personal information when you visit www.parleu2026.ie.

The Service decides how and why your personal information is dealt with and is, accordingly, the controller of those personal data in accordance with the GDPR.

When you visit the Presidency Website www.parleu2026.ie, some information is automatically retrieved about your visit to the website. The information that may be retrieved includes

• your IP address (this is the identifying details for your computer (or your internet company's computer), expressed in internet protocol (IP) code (for example 192.168.72.34). Every computer connected to the web has a unique IP address, although the address may not be the same every time a connection is made.
• the search terms you used
• the pages you accessed on the website and the links you clicked
• the date and time you visited the site
• the referring site (if any) through which you clicked through to this site
• your operating system (for example, Windows or Mac)
• the type of web browser you use (for example, Chrome, Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox)
• other information like your screen resolution and the language setting of your browser.

This statistical information will be viewable by the Communications team who manage the website on behalf of the Houses of the Oireachtas Service. The information is used to produce summary reports on usage and performance. The Service does not use any of the information above to identify website visitors personally. The information is used in aggregate form only.

We will only use your personal information for the above purposes.  Stricter rules apply to some types of personal information which may be described as sensitive personal information, although the type of personal information you are likely to give the Service by using this Website is probably unlikely to be sensitive.

For information on, and options relating to, cookies please read our cookie notice.

The website includes links to other websites. These third-party websites have their own privacy policies and are also likely to use cookies. The Service encourages you to carefully read the privacy policy of any website you visit.

The Service carefully secures all personal information and takes significant operational and technical measures including suitable and specific measures, such as anonymisation, to prevent unauthorised access, interference and/ or dissemination of the personal information to which this Privacy Notice relates.

The personal information you provide to the Service in its capacity as a controller is generally retained within the Service; however, the Service uses third-party data processors, including OneTrust, to assist in processing this information.

Personal information the Service deals with and to which this privacy notice applies will be kept within the EU.

The Service will keep personal information only as long as is necessary for the purposes set out in this Privacy Notice or as required by law.

The Service rarely deals with your personal information to which this Privacy Notice applies for other purposes.  Some generally permitted further uses are described in the Service’s General Data Protection Policy.

The following are the principal data rights applicable in the circumstances of this Privacy Notice. You may ask the us for a copy of your personal information, to supplement or correct your personal information if it is incomplete or incorrect (including out of date). You may be able to ask the Service to delete personal information, especially if the Service no longer needs it, or not to deal with it for the time being, for example, if you think it is incorrect. You may object at any time to the Service’s dealing with personal information it is dealing with in the exercise of official authority or in the public interest, although this entitlement is subject to many legal qualifications depending on the personal information and why the Service is dealing with it. The Service must then cease dealing with the personal information unless it can show compelling grounds for continuing to do so.

If you are not content with how the Service is dealing with your personal information, you may bring your dissatisfaction to the attention of the Data Protection Commission: see www.dataprotection.ie.

With the exception of strictly necessary cookies which are always active, you can choose which cookies you’re happy for us to use. Your cookie preferences and the consent you have provided will be retained for one year six months. If you change your preferences the previous consent you provided will be overridden and this will be reflected by the removal of the appropriate cookies. It should be noted, however, that any change in preferences will not affect the lawfulness of processing based on consent before the change.”

The Service’s Data Protection Officer (DPO) is Jennifer McGrath and is your point of contact regarding this transparency notice. Her office number is +353 (1) 618 4712 and her email is dataprotection@oireachtas.ie.

This notice is regularly kept under review. This notice was last updated on 19 June 2026.

The Service will keep personal information only as long as is necessary for the purposes set out in this Privacy Notice or as required by law. Your cookie preferences and the consent you have provided will be retained for one year retained for 6 months.

This Privacy Notice tells data subjects (e.g. delegates, officials, speakers, media, civil service event staff, suppliers, contractors and external partners) how the Service deals with (including by way of collection, use, or disposal) their personal information in the context of organising, hosting and administering Presidency events.

For more detailed information on the Service’s discharge of its GDPR duties and definition of relevant terms, please see the Service’s General Data Protection Policy.

The Service extracts personal information from the Presidency Accreditation Platform which is managed by DFAT. The Service may also collect personal information directly from data subjects such as where, for example, data subjects email this information to the Service’s EU Presidency Coordination Team.

The Service may, as appropriate, deal with the following categories of personal information:

• Identification and contact details (e.g. name, contact details, nationality, date of birth, recent identification photograph, identification document details, car registration details)
• Professional credentials (e.g. employer, job title, function and/or press credentials)
• Vetting information supplied to the Presidency Accreditation Platform will be visible to authorised members of the Service’s EU Presidency Coordination Team for the purposes of checking
• Accessibility requirements
• Dietary requirements
• Certain health-related information (e.g. allergies)
• Sound and images where participants are recorded. (Photographs may be taken and/or videos recorded at various points during Presidency events. These photographs and videos may be published on the EU Presidency Parliamentary Dimension website (www.parleu2026.ie) and social media. If you do not wish to be photographed or filmed, please notify the official photographer and/or videographer present at the event.)
• Banking, social insurance and tax details to process payments

Further personal data may be collected where it transpires that such collection and processing is necessary and proportionate for the purposes of organising, hosting and administering the Presidency events.

The Service deals with personal information for the purposes of organising, hosting and administering Presidency events including, in particular:

• Strict access control and security for Presidency events through, for example, the verification of identity and credentials, conduct of security checks as required, the issue and verification of access badges, and event security
• Logistical and operational delivery of Presidency events through, for example, ensuring the accessibility of events and venues, ensuring the availability of appropriate catering and medical facilities, the management of participants, and the provision of information
• Related administrative functions necessary for the delivery of Presidency events such as, for example, the reporting on and documenting of Presidency events, the making of payments, and archiving for historical purposes

The Service relies on the following legal bases, as appropriate, to process your personal data:

1. Article 6(1)(e) – Processing necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller

In its organisation, hosting and administration of Presidency events, the Service will process personal information where it is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the exercise of official authority and where it is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest. The organisation of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union is a public duty assigned to the Member State holding the Presidency(1). During its Presidency, Ireland is responsible for hosting, securing and coordinating Presidency-related meetings and events. While DFAT is responsible for coordination of the delivery of the Presidency programme, the Service is responsible for the organisation, hosting and administration of Presidency events relating to the work of parliament. Pursuant to section 4(1)(a) of the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission Acts 2003 to 2024, it is a function of the Service to provide for the running of the Houses of the Oireachtas which, in turn, includes the organisation, hosting and administration of events relating to the work of parliament. Furthermore, processing is carried out in the performance of a task carried out in the public interest in organising, hosting and administering events designed to improve discourse and knowledge-sharing, and reporting on and documenting, where same occurs, to promote awareness of the work of parliament. This includes the preparation of a List of Participants for each event, collating the names and photographs of event delegates, to be shared with the delegates of that event, published on the InterParliamentary Exchange website: www.ipex.eu, and archived for historical purposes.

2. Article 6(1)(c) – Processing necessary for compliance with a legal obligation

In its organisation, hosting and administration of Presidency events, the Service will process the personal information of data subjects to the extent that it is necessary to comply with various legal obligations including, as appropriate, those relating to health and safety law, equality and non-discrimination law, and employment law. Such processing includes, for example, the processing of personal information for the purposes of ensuring strict access control and security, ensuring the accessibility of events and venues, ensuring the availability of appropriate catering and medical facilities, and making payments to civil service event staff.

3. Article 9(2)(g) and 9(2)(h) GDPR – Processing of special category data where necessary for substantial public interest and/or for the provision of health care or treatment

Personal information relating to accessibility requirements, dietary requirements and health information is special category personal information. In the context of organising, hosting and administering Presidency events, which are of significant public interest, the Service will process this special category personal information, where it has been provided by data subjects, to the extent that it is necessary to ensure that the Presidency events and venues are accessible, that appropriate catering is provided, and that appropriate medical facilities are available. Reliance is also placed on sections 49 and 52 of the Irish Data Protection Act 2018 in this regard.

4. Article 6(1)(d) – Vital interests

Where it is necessary, the Service will process personal information to protect the vital interests of data subjects or other natural persons.

5. Article 6(1)(b) – Contract

The Service must process the personal information of speakers, contractors and suppliers to the extent that it is necessary for the performance of its contracts with them and/or to take such steps as may be requested by the speakers, contractors and suppliers prior to entering into those contracts. Such processing includes, for example, the making of payments to speakers, contractors and suppliers.

Visitors to Leinster House should also have regard to the Enquiries Office Transparency Notice.

(1) This is set out in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) (Consolidated Version), Declaration on Article 16(9) of the Treaty on European Union concerning the European Council decision on the exercise of the Presidency of the Council Articles 1(1)(2); 3;, adopted into Irish law in the European Union Act 2009.

The Service retains third-party data processors to assist it in processing the personal information to which this Privacy Notice relates. These data processors are bound by data processing agreements that secure your rights with regard to your personal information in accordance with the GDPR.

The Service may share personal information with external parties where this is necessary and proportionate for limited purposes:

1. The Superintendent of the Houses of the Oireachtas may share personal information with An Garda Síochána (the police force of Ireland) where this is necessary for security purposes.
2. Information relating to accessibility requirements, dietary requirements and health (e.g. allergies), which is collected by DFAT through the Presidency accreditation platform, will be anonymised before it is shared with the relevant event venue (i.e. Office of Public Works events team / Convention Centre Dublin), caterers and/or civil service event staff, as appropriate, to ensure that appropriate arrangements are put in place and facilities made available.
3. Photographs may be taken and/or videos recorded at various points during Presidency events. These photographs and videos may be published on the EU Presidency Parliamentary Dimension website (www.parleu2026.ie) and social media.
4. The names and photographs of event delegates will be collated into a List of Participants, shared with delegates of that event and published on the InterParliamentary Exchange website: www.ipex.eu.

Data subjects will be informed if any other circumstances arise in which it is necessary and proportionate to share personal information with external parties.

The Service will deal with personal information to which this Privacy Notice relates where this is necessary to establish (including investigate), exercise, or defend a legal claim, including by disclosing it to its legal advisers and in proceedings before any relevant court, tribunal, arbitrator, mediator, or similar entity. The Service will deal with personal information to which this Privacy Notice relates where this is necessary to comply with any applicable law, regulation, summons, search warrant, or court or regulatory order, or other statutory requirement. In particular, the Service will deal with personal information to which this Privacy Notice relates where it is necessary to comply with a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2014 or to respond to data protection rights requests (see below).

Your personal information will be recorded securely within filing systems which are necessary for the operation of the Service’s functions. These systems are protected by safeguards such as access control, encryption and the Service’s firewalls. Access to these systems is limited to authorised members of staff in the Service’s EU Presidency Coordination Team.

The Service does not intend to transfer personal information to which this Privacy Notice relates to a third country or international organisation.

The Service will only retain the personal information to which this Privacy Notice relates for so long as it is necessary and proportionate to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, or to comply with any applicable law, regulation, summons, search warrant, or court or regulatory order, or other statutory requirement. The List of Participant documents will be retained for historical purposes in line with the Service’s Retention Schedule.

The rights available to data subjects under the GDPR are listed and discussed in the general data protection policy of the Service (available here). No automated decision-making is conducted. It is the policy of the Service to confirm a requester’s identity before providing personal information; a request for identification stops time running for the purposes of the 30-day time limit set by the GDPR.

The following are the principal data rights applicable in the circumstances of this Privacy Notice You may ask the Service for a copy of your personal information. You may ask the Service to supplement or correct your personal information if it is incomplete or incorrect (including out of date). You may ask the Service to delete personal information, especially if the Service no longer needs it, or not to deal with it for the time being, for example, if you think it is incorrect. You may object at any time to the Service’s dealing with personal information it is dealing with in the exercise of official authority or in the public interest, or in pursuit of its legitimate interests, although this entitlement is subject to many legal qualifications depending on the personal information and why the Service is dealing with it. The Service must then cease dealing with the personal information unless it can show compelling grounds for continuing to do so.

All data protection rights requests should be made to the Service’s Data Protection Officer, Jennifer McGrath.

Her office number is +353 1 618 4712 and her email is dataprotection@oireachtas.ie. The postal address of the Service is Leinster House, Kildare Street, Dublin 2, D02 XR20.

Please note that the Service may refer data protection rights requests to DFAT where this is necessary to provide a response to the request and/or to comply with data protection law.

If you are not satisfied with how the Service is dealing with your personal information, you may lodge a complaint with the Irish supervisory authority, the Data Protection Commission. Information on how to lodge a complaint may be found on the Data Protection Commission’s website: www.dataprotection.ie.

This Privacy Notice is kept under review. Any updates will be placed on the website www.parleu2026.ie and notified to you. The Privacy Notice was last updated on 10 July 2026.