The EU Ombudsman has asked the European Commission for more information as part of its inquiry into the monitoring of data protection rules in Ireland.
Ombudsman Emily O'Reilly launched the investigation in February following a complaint to her office from Dr Johnny Ryan, a senior fellow at the Irish Council for Civil Liberties.
He had expressed concerns about the Commission's monitoring of Ireland's application of data protection rules.
In June, the Commission issued its reply to the Ombudsman describing as 'unfounded' claims that it does not collect sufficient information to monitor Ireland's application of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
GDPR is an EU regulation that came into effect in May 2018 which imposes strict requirements on the collection, use and storage of personal data.
In a letter sent today to the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the Ombudsman has requested additional information.
"The Commission's reply contains some relatively specific information on the sources of information, but not a detailed and comprehensive account of the actual information that it has so far collected," Ms O'Reilly wrote.
"This inquiry concerns the implementation of a fundamental right of citizens and, more specifically, seeks to determine whether the Commission is doing enough to ensure the GDPR is fully enforced vis-à-vis major technology companies in Ireland."
"The focus is to verify whether the Commission has informed itself adequately to arrive at the necessary conclusions," the letter states.
The Ombudsman has asked the Commission for its reply by 30 September.
