Legal Updates

HSE Data Breach – September Update (is the truth starting to come out?)

On the 15th May 2021 the Data Protection Officer (DPO) for the HSE made a data breach notification to the Data Protection Commission. In that notification he said that a day earlier the HSE suffered a data security breach of its IT systems.

After some difficulty we have obtained the official data breach notification pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act. In the notification to the Data Protection Commission the stark facts were set out bluntly; approximately 4.9 million people had been affected by the breach, and the data disclosed to certain nefarious actors included

  1. Data Subject Identity data (name, surname, […]
By |2021-09-30T10:00:16+01:00September 29th, 2021|

Flawed BEAM could be open to judicial review

Mícheál O’Dowd of our office was quoted today in Agriland, a leading news publication for agricultural matters in Ireland on the unworkable and illogical nature of the Beef Exceptional Aid Measure (BEAM) Scheme introduced in 2019 to assist drystock farmers. Over 3200 farmers are currently facing repayment demands from the Department of Agriculture, and it likely thousands more will face demands by the end of 2021.

The full article can be accessed here

We would encourage all farmers who did succeed in abiding by the terms of the BEAM scheme to appeal the matter to the Department of Agriculture, as […]

By |2021-09-08T22:41:27+01:00September 8th, 2021|

2021 Conveyancing Guide now available

We realised our old Conveyancing Guide was now hopelessly out of date, so there was nothing for it only to update it for 2021. We try to be as honest as possible, don’t do any hard sell, try and get you to jump through hoops, or make your life more difficult than it needs to be in any way, that goes for both downloading the guide and retaining us as your Solicitors.

As always please do not hesitate to contact us if you need a quote to buy, sell or re-mortgage using our online form. 

By |2021-09-06T22:16:12+01:00September 6th, 2021|

Google Reviews, the rule of Law, and Big Tech having a laugh

We note that today the office of the Irish Data Protection Commission levied a fine of €225m on Whatsapp, a messaging arm of Facebook. This was done in the context of outrage from a number of other European Data Protection Commissioners. They felt quite rightfully that the original proposed fine of €30m was far too low given the revenues of Facebook. It was not a sufficient incentive to obey the law.

Overall, it looks very bad for Ireland that the Irish DPC had to be dragged kicking a screaming to levy a sensible fine for egregious breaches of European law. None […]

By |2021-09-02T15:07:47+01:00September 2nd, 2021|

Covid 19, Data Protection and the Workplace. An explosive mix?

It appears that many solicitors have expressed their views on the legal issues that will arise from people returning to the workplace post Covid. The only common ground shared is that “there are legal issues!” The following should not be taken as legal advice, and has no basis more reliable than our own meandering experience (to misquote Baz Luhrmann).

Can an employees pay be cut if they do not return to the workplace?

Almost certainly yes. The following is an extract from a tech company’s contract:

Your place of work will be [Office address]. You may be required to undertake normal business […]

By |2021-08-18T18:01:23+01:00August 17th, 2021|

HSE Cyber Attack – July Update

It remains something of a surprise to us that there has been so little media coverage of late of the HSE Cyber Attack. Almost two months has now passed since the hacking incident and it appears that health services are still greatly affected and the Health Service Executive remains remarkably reticent to say what happened. They are even slower to say what is being done to remediate matters. We have spoken to a great many people about their experiences since the Cyber attack, and the following seems to be current position:

Health Services

From a health care point of view it seems […]

By |2021-07-08T23:07:32+01:00July 8th, 2021|

The Wildlife Act & Cutting Hedges

We have had a number of queries from clients with developmental and agricultural holdings in respect of the legality (or illegality) of cutting hedges during the “closed season”. The Wildlife Act 1976 (as amended) provides that it is illegal to cut hedges from the 1st March to the 31st August. This is for the very good reason that birds and wildlife tend to be nesting and active in the hedgerows during that time of the year.

Farmers and developers often note that it is very difficult, or even impossible to maintain hedges in fields during the winter. It is however worth […]

By |2021-03-09T11:53:36+00:00March 9th, 2021|

Welcome to our new offices

We have recently completed the acquisition and complete refurbishment of an adjoining premises. We now have additional space for meeting rooms and offices. There is also easy ground floor access, and we have ample space for social distancing. As always there is free parking outside the door, but most importantly your legal affairs will be looked after in an honest, professional and prompt manner.

 

 

 

 

By |2020-12-13T22:16:33+00:00December 9th, 2020|

Legal.ie launched by O’Dowd Solicitors

Legal.ie is a new service launched by the litigation department at O’Dowd Solicitors. Available at www.legal.ie it provides a the same traditional values of a law firm, but in a wholly online setting. We can provide online consultations, collaborative workspaces and simply straightforward communications.

By |2020-07-18T20:57:44+01:00July 11th, 2020|

Personal Injuries Register

Read some of the views of Solicitor Mícheál O’Dowd on the Personal Injuries Register that never happened over at thejournal.ie. We advise extensively on both Personal Injuries matters and on the GDPR, so it is great to get the opportunity to speak on both:

Read more here

By |2019-08-28T14:27:53+01:00August 28th, 2019|
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