At the time of Max Schrems' first complaints, our Data Protection Commission was located in a small office in Portarlington above a convenience store. It is only due to the international embarrassment caused by Schrems' successful cases (which showed the DPC to be incompetent and unwilling to investigate complaints) that they have recently received more funding to expand operations.
There is a tendency in Irish state bodies to always err on the side of the establishment - Ombudsmen and oversight bodies such as the DPC will rarely rock the boat by making findings against the State. This leaves citizens with little option but to take a court case against the State to vindicate their rights (as Schrems was forced to do when the previous DPC decided his complaints were "frivolous and vexatious" [1]). The current DPC has yet to fine a single company under GDPR, something which truly beggars belief.
People like Schrems take a great personal risk in taking court cases in Ireland. If you lose, you end up paying yours and your opponent's legal fees, which are huge and essentially bankrupting for the non-wealthy [2] (there are some exceptions where the judge thinks your case was in the public interest, but that's decided afterwards). Often cases have to be appealed all the way to the Supreme Court and the ECJ to find justice. One case against the DPC regarding access to exam scripts has been in the Irish courts since 2009 and finally won in the ECJ in 2017 [3].
There is a tendency in Irish state bodies to always err on the side of the establishment - Ombudsmen and oversight bodies such as the DPC will rarely rock the boat by making findings against the State. This leaves citizens with little option but to take a court case against the State to vindicate their rights (as Schrems was forced to do when the previous DPC decided his complaints were "frivolous and vexatious" [1]). The current DPC has yet to fine a single company under GDPR, something which truly beggars belief.
People like Schrems take a great personal risk in taking court cases in Ireland. If you lose, you end up paying yours and your opponent's legal fees, which are huge and essentially bankrupting for the non-wealthy [2] (there are some exceptions where the judge thinks your case was in the public interest, but that's decided afterwards). Often cases have to be appealed all the way to the Supreme Court and the ECJ to find justice. One case against the DPC regarding access to exam scripts has been in the Irish courts since 2009 and finally won in the ECJ in 2017 [3].
[1] https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/court-t...
[2] https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/high-co...
[3] https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/failed-exam-ca...