McCann FitzGerald: Irish businesses ‘optimistic’ about GDPR compliance six months on

Paul Lavery

As many as 88 per cent of Irish businesses say they are confident that they have correctly interpreted their GDPR obligations, while 84 per cent of organisations are satisfied that they are materially compliant with GDPR.

Although 68 per cent of businesses found it challenging to put the necessary GDPR compliance structures in place, there is also a shared belief that the introduction of GDPR has been a positive development for society with 82 per cent of businesses agreeing or strongly agreeing that GDPR has been beneficial for individuals.

Paul Lavery, partner and head of technology & innovation at McCann FitzGerald, said: “An interesting aspect of the research is the air of confidence among organisations of their understanding of GDPR.

“Nobody said the road to GDPR compliance would be easy but most organisations have found it to be a worthwhile, albeit, at times painful, exercise in terms of information governance, something they may not have done otherwise. There are requirements that are continuing to be challenging to address and there is an awareness of areas where they are at risk of non-compliance.

“However, overall organisations are cautiously optimistic. This optimism is likely to be tested in the coming months as enforcement actions and data subject activism start to kick in.”

Liam McKenna, partner with Mazars, added: “We see that although there is still work to be done, the majority of businesses are adapting to the new legislation.”