Ireland’s DPC is owed more than €4 billion in fines

Regulation is only truly effective when it is fully enforced. Recent reporting claims that Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC), which imposed groundbreaking penalties in recent years, did not collect a significant share of those fines in practice. 

The report is based on figures released under FOI laws. Several articles say that the DPC has yet to pay more than €4 billion in fines, most of which are tied up in various legal challenges and appeals. While €4.04 billion in fines were issued over a six-year period, €4.02 billion remains uncollected. The DPC explains that, under Irish law, fines generally cannot be collected until appeals conclude and the courts confirm the penalty.

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