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87% of Irish businesses consider GDPR to be a significant business issue

Written by Robert McHugh, on 23rd Nov 2017. Posted in Ireland

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A new research report commissioned jointly by Ibec and A&L Goodbody has found that 87% of Irish businesses consider upcoming EU General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) to be a significant issue, with 61% already having begun a programme to ensure compliance by the May 2018 implementation date.

However, of those companies for whom GDPR is identified as a significant issue, just under one in five (19%) feel they are well prepared for the new regulations.

The report finds that just under 40% of companies surveyed have not yet begun a programme to ensure compliance by May 2018. Forty seven percent have assessed the data protection risks to the organisation and 46% have appointed a GDPR implementation team.

Ibec have warned that GDPR will have significant and wide ranging impacts, including fines of up to 4% of global turnover or €20 million (whichever is greater) in the case of a breach.

Speaking at the publication of the results at Ibec this morning, Erik O’Donovan, Head of Digital Economy Policy at Ibec said, "The scope of the impact of the GDPR cannot be overstated. The GDPR will impact most if not all areas of business. Key employees and decision makers across an organisation’s hierarchy must be aware and trained on the GDPR so that they can consider how to ensure compliance and appropriately allocate resources."

Partner at A&L Goodbody, John Whelan added, "The reputational aspects of a breach of the GDPR, and the new relationship that will emerge between senior level management within organisations, and the Regulator, will be key. The GDPR represents the biggest change to data protection law in over twenty years and with it brings the immense need for cultural change within organisations."

Source: www.businessworld.ie

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