Who we are:

Met Éireann, Ireland’s National Meteorological Service, is a line division of the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government and is the leading provider of weather information and related services in the State. Its mission is to monitor, analyse and predict Ireland’s weather and climate and to provide a range of high quality meteorological and related information to the public and to specific customers.

The Department is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. This pricacy statement explains how the Department, as the Data Controller, will process the personal data provided to it in respect of , how that information will be used, and what rights you may exercise in relation to your personal data.

Why are we processing your data:

The Department will use your data in order to process your application. To complete your application you will be asked to provide personal data (some fields are compulsory, others remain optional) including your name, company address, email address, etc. If you contact us for any reason in relation to your application, we may keep a record of that correspondence.
In addition to the above mentioned categories of personal data, we may also collect information on your user activity, including your IP address, data downloaded and time spent on the Service. This data will be used exclusively for traffic analysis, monitoring and service optimisation purposes. In the event that this data needs to be shared with any third party, it will undergo anonymisation.

Profiling:

The Department will not use any personal data collected from you for the purpose of automated decision making or profiling.

Lawfulness of processing:

This porcessing of your personal data is lawful under Article 6(1)(b) - processing of personal data shall be lawfull if it is necessary for the performance of a contract to which the data subject is party or in order to take steps, at the request of the data subject, prior to entering into a contract.

Security of your personal data:

The Department implements appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your information from unauthorised access. However, despite these efforts, no security measures are perfect or impenetrable, and no method of data transmission can be guaranteed against any interception or other type of misuse. In the event that your personal data is compromised as a result of a breach of security, the Department's Breach Management policy and procedures will be implemented.

Recipients of the data:

Personal data will not be used for any other purpose than processing your application, including the transfer of personal data to any third country or an international organisation, unless it's required to do so according to EU or member state law. In that case, you will be informed in writing of that legal requirement, unless that law prohibits such information on important grounds of public interest.

How long will we keep your data:

The Department will only retain your personal data for as long as it is necessary for the purposes for which it is collected and processed. In line with legislative and business requirements, the data retention period for your personal data in this instance is ten years.

Your rights:

The Department's Data Protection Policy, which sets out how we will use your personal data, as well as providing information regarding your rights as a data subject (including details regarding right of access, right to rectification, right to erasure, right to restriction of processing, right to object), is available on our website. The policy is also available in hard copy upon request.

Contacting Us:

If you require further information, or wish to access your personal data, please contact the Department's Data Protection Officer, details below.



Data Protection Officer,
Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government,
Newtown Road,
Wexford,
Email: data.protection@housing.gov.ie
Telephone: 053 9117450