The Data Protection Commission (DPC) sought a massive €10 million hike in its budget as it looked to combat the “unfair narrative” that it was soft on Big Tech.
In a pre-budget submission, the DPC said it was looking to increase annual spending to €39.8 million in 2026, a year-on-year increase of more than a third. This would include an extra €8 million for pay and €2.37 million for non-pay, according to records released under Freedom of Information.
In a letter to the Department of Justice, the DPC said it was fully aware of the need to balance diverse funding needs across the justice sector. However, it said, its job of upholding people’s fundamental right to data protection was a “national priority”.
A submission said the DPC was being asked to act as lead authority for global technology companies that were worth billions of euro while spending just a tiny fraction of their budgets. It said the commission was under intense scrutiny from EU member states and MEPs about its ability to lead data protection regulation for Big Tech.
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“The extremely challenging environment and (unfair) narrative of recent years from which we are now emerging needs to be recalled in this context,“ it stated in one piece of correspondence.
“Continuing to build the DPC’s reputation internationally and, thereby confidence in Ireland’s regulatory environment, requires continuing investment.”
The Data Protection Commission detailed how the European Commission had 270 staff working on just the Digital Services Act, with a supporting budget of €55 million. By contrast, the DPC’s entire workforce of 280 operated with annual spending of €29.4 million.
The commission said incoming EU laws on artificial intelligence, political advertising and harmonising regulations around complaints were going to massively increase its workload.
“The DPC will need to expand all its expert teams to meet this increased obligation, as well as ensuring enough senior staff are recruited,” the pre-budget submission said.
In the July submission, its two commissioners – Dr Des Hogan and Dale Sunderland – said the work of the agency added huge value to the economy.
They explained how the DPC had imposed fines exceeding €4 billion since the application of GDPR.
The correspondence said the commission would be able to grow aggressively if funded and that 78 new people would be hired this year. It said that previous underspends were historic and that it had been instructed to pause recruitment for a four-to-six-week period by the Department of Public Expenditure.
“It was well within DPC’s power to recruit more staff this year had we not been curtailed by this, which was outside of our control,” one note said.
In a response in September, Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan said his department was “very cognisant” of the importance of the DPC as one of the largest data protection authorities in Europe. The minister said he had taken note of the concerns raised and of the “increased workload” expected from significant new and amended EU legislation.
However, his letter added: “You will be aware of the wider budgetary pressures and the current uncertainty due to global circumstances. Any budgetary decisions have to be made with this situation in mind, and I am committed to providing the DPC with the resources it needs, subject to budgetary considerations.”
In Budget 2026 announcement, the Department of Justice promised a further 10 per cent increase to the budget of the commission with an extra €3 million to support increased staffing.
