We are all too aware that COVID-19 has had catastrophic financial effects on many Irish Businesses. The first place companies should look to is their specific insurance policy to ascertain if they actually have cover for the financial losses incurred as a result of the COVID-19 disruption/interruption. Continue reading
A Data Protection Impact Assessment is a risk assessment in respect of the effects of data collection and processing on the data subject. Continue reading
What is Data Protection and GDPR?
Data protection and the governing regulation, GDPR are the rules surrounding personal data. Personal data is any information from which an individual may be identified. The rules require that you have a valid reason for holding personal data and that you treat personal data with due care. GDPR explains in detail the valid reasons and the way data should be treated.
Employers have been faced with numerous new challenges and responsibilities in the wake of Covid-19. This article aims to make it easier for employers to be aware of their new responsibilities to their workers.
The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act is the main piece of legislation that governs a safe workplace and requires employers to provide a safe working environment. Employers also need to be vigilant to protect themselves from civil claims in relation to workplace injuries. There is no relaxation of the usual rules during this crisis.
The Court of Appeal has overturned the High Court decision in the Roderick Jones case. The High Court had made a finding that a the requirement for a naturalisation applicant to have ‘continuous residence’ in Ireland for one year prior to submitting their papers, was in fact, a requirement to remain within in the state for a one-year period. This decision was widely criticised as it left a number of applicants in limbo, having previously relied on the ‘six week rule’.
The recent changes to the Residential Tenancies Acts 2004- 2019 mean that those with a lease or licence for student accommodation are now protected to some extent by the residential tenancies legislation. Many term-time tenancies were previously considered as licences and fell outside the legislation.
This is an important update on submitting applications for Irish citizenship by naturalisation. In the recent appeal of a refusal of Irish citizenship by Roderick Jones, it was argued that the Minister ought not to have refused the application where the applicant had spent 100 days abroad in the year leading up to his application, as there were valid reasons for Mr Jones’ absence from the state and it did not suggest that he was no longer continuously resident. The High Court however made a surprising decision, by applying a literal interpretation of the word continuous in the legislation. It was held that any absence whatsoever from the state during the year prior to application would make the applicant ineligible for naturalisation.
Under GDPR, employers are entitled to monitor employee activity if they have a lawful basis for doing so and the purpose of their monitoring is clearly communicated to employees in advance-before any data is recorded the data subject must be warned. A system used to monitor the building for security purposes will usually be easy to justify. The use of CCTV systems in other circumstances – for example, to constantly monitor employees – can be more difficult to justify and could involve a breach of the Data Protection Acts. Should an employee object to the use of CCTV cameras in a particular area, the GDPR test places the burden on the employer to demonstrate that it has “compelling legitimate grounds” for processing that override the employees’ rights, or for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.
The Pyrite Resolution Act 2013 provides for the making of the Pyrite Remediation Scheme for certain dwellings affected by reactive pyrite and for the establishment of the Pyrite Resolution Board (PRB) to manage the implementation of such scheme. The Pyrite Remediation Scheme is for the remediation of eligible dwellings that have a damage condition rating of 2 as a result of pyritic heave caused by the swelling of hardcore under ground floor slabs.
Article 30(1) of the EU’s Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (4AMLD) requires all EU Member States to require companies to hold an up-to-date record of their beneficial owner or owners. This came into effect via part 2 of SI110/2019 on the 22nd March this year.
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