Privacy Statement
This Public Consultation is about hearing people’s personal experiences, to understand how people were impacted. This will form part of the evidence collected by the COVID-19 Evaluation, which seeks to assess how Ireland responded to the pandemic.
The COVID-19 Evaluation is committed to protecting the rights and privacy of all individuals in accordance with the Data Protection Acts 1988-2018 and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Any personal information that you volunteer will be treated with the highest standards of security and confidentiality, strictly in accordance with these legislative provisions.
Personal data received in response to public consultation will be used only in line with the purposes for which it was provided and will only be shared as appropriate with officials working directly on the COVID-19 Evaluation. The independent COVID-19 Evaluation will only retain personal information until the work of the COVID-19 Evaluation is complete.
A specific question in the survey and submission forms gives the option of providing contact details should you be interested in being contacted for more specific consultation relating to Nursing Homes. The COVID-19 Evaluation will use your contact information only if you have consented to be contacted.
You have the right to request access to the personal data that we hold about you and to object to the processing of your personal data. If you are unhappy with the way in which we have processed your personal data, then you have the right to complain to the relevant supervisory authority.
If you have any concerns about the way in which we process your personal data, you can contact us at info@covid19evaluation.ie
Terms and Conditions for Submissions to the independent COVID-19 Evaluation
These terms and conditions cover any information provided as part of the Public Consultation.
This includes individual submissions, personal information contained within stakeholder organisation submissions, and individual input provided via Surveys.
Information is being collected for the propose of helping the Evaluation to fulfil its obligations under its Terms of Reference, which is rooted in evaluating the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The time period covered is 1 January 2020 to 28 February 2022.
Terms and Conditions for Submissions
Only submissions received through the formal process can be considered as part of the Evaluation’s consultation.
- Anonymous submissions may be deemed invalid (for Survey method only an email / contact detail is necessary).
- Submissions that are deemed to be abusive, offensive or not relevant to the scope of the Terms of Reference of the COVID-19 Evaluation may be deemed invalid.
- Submissions that do not consent to the Terms & Conditions may be deemed invalid.
Information Provided:
Personal information provided should be at a level that describes ones lived experience but should not provide detailed records.
It is important that any information provided does not impinge on separate processes. Furthermore, if any information provided, inadvertently of otherwise, raises specific concerns, for example of a safeguarding or criminal nature, the Evaluation will be obliged to pass this on to the appropriate regulatory body / relevant authority.
Storage of Data:
All valid submissions will form part of the input to the COVID-19 Evaluation. Data will be held securely by the independent COVID-19 Evaluation for the duration of its work.
Original input data will be held securely within the COVID-19 Evaluation – access will be limited to the Secretariat to the Evaluation, under the guidance of the internal Data Protection Officer.
Redacted* versions of input data will be held securely within the COVID-19 Evaluation – access to redacted versions will only be provided to those working directly on the COVID-19 Evaluation. These redacted versions of data will be used as the base for analysis by the COVID-19 Evaluation.
Once the Evaluation’s work is completed, data will no longer be held by the independent COVID-19 Evaluation as an entity. At that point it will be assessed for deletion or retention, including with regard to national archiving obligations.
*Redactions:
Personal information, including names, specific locations and other identifiable information may be redacted if requested or required under Data Protection legislation, in particular for special category data, or subject to other legal or governance considerations.
- The processing of submissions will be subject to legal / governance considerations including:
- Data Protection legislation;
- Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act 1989;
- Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act 2020;
- Defamation Act 2009;
- Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Act 2022;
- Freedom of Information Act 2014; and
- National Archives Act 1986.
Publication and Reporting:
Personal Inputs:
All methods of publication, for survey inputs and individual / personal submissions, will be at an aggregate level. Information will be grouped and always anonymised. Analysis will not identify specific people or specific organisations. It will provide summary information and highlight findings through methods such as themes, patterns and trends.
Publication vehicles will include the Evaluation’s dedicated website (www.covid19evaluation.ie), formal Reports by the Evaluation, or at exploratory roundtable events led by the Chair and/or COVID-19 Evaluation Panel.
Particular content from the submissions may be cited or quoted in publicly available reports prepared by the COVID-19 Evaluation (without attribution), subject to necessary restrictions.
Stakeholder organisation (Non-personal Inputs):
All valid Stakeholder organisation submissions will be published, as appropriate, in a compilation document on www.covid19evaluation.ie, in due course.
The nature of information provided will be assessed for publication purposes. Organisation level general information will not be redacted (except for personal contact details). Any personal or identifiable information will be dealt with as per redaction approach outlined above.
Overall or summary information will be incorporated into formal Reports by the COVID-19 Evaluation or at exploratory roundtable events led by the Chair and/or COVID-19 Evaluation Panel.
Particular content from the submissions may be cited or quoted in publicly available reports prepared by the COVID-19 Evaluation (without attribution), subject to necessary restrictions.