F57[12.— (1) The Independent Examiner shall undertake the duties specified in this section.

(2) The Independent Examiner shall ascertain whether An Garda Síochána, the Permanent Defence Force, the Revenue Commissioners and the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission are complying with this Act.

(3) For the purpose of performing his or her functions under this section, the Independent Examiner—

(a) has the power to examine any case in which a disclosure request is made, and

(b) may access and inspect any official documents or records relating to the request.

(4) Without prejudice to section 242 of the Act of 2024, any person who was concerned in, or has information relevant to, the preparation or making of a disclosure request shall give the Independent Examiner, on his or her request, such information relating to the disclosure request as is in the person’s possession.

(5) The Independent Examiner may, if he or she considers it desirable to do so, communicate with the Taoiseach or the Minister concerning disclosure requests and with the Data Protection Commissioner in connection with the functions of the Data Protection Commissioner under the Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Acts 1988 to 2018.

(6) Nothing in this section shall affect the functions of the Data Protection Commissioner under the Data Protection Acts 1988 to 2018.

(7) In this section—

"Act of 2024" means the Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024;

"Data Protection Regulation" means Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 20162 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation);

"Independent Examiner" has the same meaning as it has in the Act of 2024.]