The Government has announced the appointment of Ms Niamh Sweeney as the State’s newest Data Protection Commissioner. She will take up the role on October 13th 2025, for a five-year term.
Ms Sweeney, a graduate of Trinity College Dublin and Columbia University in New York, brings more than two decades of experience across technology, public service and media. She most recently worked as a Director with a global strategic advisory firm, and previously held senior roles in the tech sector, including Director of Public Policy for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at ‘WhatsApp‘.
Her earlier career included a stint as Special Adviser at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and several years as a journalist with RTÉ.
The appointment follows the designation of Dr Des Hogan and Dale Sunderland as Commissioners in February 2024. It completes the Government’s plan, first set in motion in 2022, to expand the leadership of the Data Protection Commission (DPC) from a single commissioner to a three-person panel.
Since the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force in May 2018, the DPC has become one of Europe’s most active regulators. Up to the end of 2024, it has issued fines totalling more than €3.5 billion, received nearly 44,000 breach notifications — 98% of which have been concluded — and handled over 1,800 cross-border complaints, the majority in its role as lead supervisory authority.
The Government has said the expansion of the Commission is part of a wider strategy to strengthen Ireland’s position as a hub for digital and data regulation within the EU’s Single Market.
Leave a Reply