The European Commission is seeking further information from the Irish authorities in relation to the appointment of Niamh Sweeney as the third commissioner of the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC).
The move follows controversy over Ms Sweeney's suitability for the role due to her former position as a senior official in the tech giant Meta.
In a letter to the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL), seen by RTÉ News, the Commission said "further information is required from the national authorities [of Ireland]" in order for the ICCL’s complaint on the issue to be properly addressed.
The letter said the Commission had "started an exchange" with the Irish authorities on the matter.
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) had submitted a formal complaint against Ireland to the European Commission over the appointment of Ms Sweeney, a former senior official with the tech giant Meta, to the Irish DPC.
The ICCL said Ireland had failed to provide adequate safeguards for independence and impartiality in its process to appoint the new Data Protection Commissioner.
That process led to the appointment of what it called an "ex-Meta lobbyist".
Niamh Sweeney was appointed to the DPC role in September.
She had previously held senior positions with technology companies including WhatsApp and Facebook, both run by Meta.
The ICCL had argued that Ireland's appointment process lacked procedural safeguards against conflicts of interest and political interference and may be interpreted by the tech industry as a signal of impunity.
It said EU law required that independent supervisory authorities must not only be impartial and independent but must also be above any suspicion of partiality.
Last month the European Commission said that it had no powers to intervene in the appointment.
Commission spokesperson Guillaume Mercier told reporters that EU law required that such appointments be made through a transparent procedure and that candidates have "the qualifications, the experience, the skills, in particular [in terms of] the protection of personal data, required to perform their duties and to exercise their powers".
However, he added: "The Commission is not involved in this process and is not empowered to take action with respect to those appointments."
In the letter to the ICCL, dated today, the Commission appears to have reversed that position.
The Commission wrote that "after our initial analysis of the issues raised in your complaint, we have come to the conclusion that further information is required from the national authorities of the Member State concerned before we can reach the final decision upon your complaint".
"Therefore, we have started an exchange on the matter with the Member State concerned in the context of a so-called EU Pilot dialogue."
This would be an "informal exchange of information between the Commission and the Member State concerned on issues related to potential non-compliance with EU law, allowing the Commission to assess whether there are grounds to launch a formal infringement procedure".
The ICCL has been advised by the Commission to take legal advice on the means of redress available at national level if it considered that its rights in law had not been respected.
The letter concluded: "Submitting a complaint to the Commission does not suspend the time limits for starting legal action under national law."
