A private investigator who pleaded guilty to breaches of the Data Protection Act has received fines totalling €7,500 at Tuam District Court.

Michael Ryan (47), a director of private investigation firm Glen Collection Investments Ltd, with an address in Glenamaddy, Co Galway, admitted obtaining access to personal information held by the Department of Social Protection while he was employed by a firm of solicitors acting on behalf of Allied Irish Banks (AIB) and Bank of Ireland.

The case arose from a complaint to the Data Protection Commissioner in February 2015 by Daniel Lannon, with a former address in Drogheda, Co Louth, who believed his personal information with the department had been passed to an agent of AIB and Croskerrys Solicitors in Dublin.

Assistant Data Protection Commissioner Tony Delaney told Judge Conal Gibbons at Tuam District Court that the subsequent inquiry found that the personal information held by the department of some 61 account holders with the two banks had been accessed within a period of one year.

The court heard that a Data Protection Commission audit team was sent to Croskerrys Solicitors, which specialises in debt collection, and two trace reports relating to Mr Lannon, carried out by the private investigation firm, were found.

The court heard that the inquiry checked phone records to confirm that Mr Ryan obtained personal information held by the Department of Social Protection from his sister-in-law, Caitriona Bracken, who was employed at the department’s offices in Athlone, Co Westmeath.

The inquiry established that Glen Collection Investments Ltd was not authorised to process personal information on the department’s databases, as it was not registered with the Data Protection Commission, as is required by law.

The commission subsequently received a registration application from the firm and the company was registered.

The court heard there was no scope within the legislation in relation to the activity of the banks, the legal firm or the department official.

‘Nothing unlawful’

Mr Delaney said that there was “nothing unlawful” about the actions of the banks, the private investigator and the legal firm, but the difficulty the Data Protection Commissioner had was with the “tactics” and “methodology” used.

Neither Ms Bracken nor the two banks were represented in court as this prosecution related solely to Michael Ryan and his company.

The judge said that citizens’ rights would be protected by publicising prosecutions of this nature, and credited Mr Lannon for making the complaint.

The judge expressed concern that the “beneficiaries” of the private investigator’s work had not taken “much more care” to ensure compliance with the law.

The court heard that Mr Ryan was in mortgage arrears, had five children, and had no previous convictions.

He had received payments of between €45 and less than €100 on average for each report.

The judge took into account the guilty plea and the financial circumstances of Mr Ryan when he imposed a fine of €7,500 in total on him and his company.