Data Protection Commission sought extra €4m to hire staff to manage AI threat
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The Data Protection Commission (DPC) asked for an extra €4m in funding to hire new staff and manage any potential fall-out from AI (artificial intelligence) being trained using people’s personal information.
The DPC said it was facing an uphill battle in hiring suitably qualified employees, especially for legal and technology roles while competing with the private sector.
In a pre-budget submission, the DPC said its role was becoming ever “more complex” due to the impact of AI and other fast-developing technologies.
It also said there was a growing expectation on them of “proportionate, timely and effective enforcement” in dealing with big tech companies and others.
In a letter to the Department of Justice in July, the DPC said it was looking for a €32.4m budget for 2025 which included an extra €2.8m for pay and just over €1.2m for non-pay expenditure. However, the allocation announced in Budget 2025 ended up being €29m.
Their pre-budget plea said:
It said artificial intelligence was already presenting challenges as personal data was “prevalent in the development, training, and deployment of AI applications.” The letter added that while a new AI Act was awaited from the government, it was up to them for now to regulate the personal information aspect of the technology.
The DPC said the extra €4m would allow them to make progress in “clearing older large-scale cross-border inquiries.” They pointed to a “growing caseload” and constantly evolving technology, all of which created “significant challenges for the protection of personal data.”
“[Additional funding will help build] technology expertise and capacity to keep abreast with fast-developing technologies such as Al where the DPC has a lead EU role in ensuring compliance with data protection law,” the letter added.
The DPC said extra resources would be needed too for the growing number of their decisions that were being challenged in the Irish and European courts. They said: “These cases — all noteworthy in terms of novelty and complexity — are expected to move to active litigation next year.”
Other funding requirements were for upskilling staff, hiring an outside recruitment company to help hire new people, and for the fit-out of their new HQ in Dublin.
The DPC praised government support of their role and said this had led to the imposition of fines totalling €2.85bn since 2018. The letter said they hoped to bring staff members up to 260 by the end of this year and to 320 by the end of 2025.
The letter added: “We trust the case for the DPC's funding requirement is clear and well-founded. Our request is also made in the context of the DPC's onerous responsibility to supervise and enforce on behalf of hundreds of millions of Europeans, the Irish-based global internet, technology and social media companies' compliance with EU data protection law.”