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Terms and Conditions

General

There are risks in using any information, software products on the Internet and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (DETE)/ National Competitiveness and Productivity Council (NCPC) cautions the user to make sure that the user completely understands these before retrieving, using or relying upon any information received on the Internet. It is the user's responsibility to verify any information before relying on it.

DETE/ NCPC reserves the right to make alterations to any part of this site and these terms.

The terms set out in these pages shall be governed, construed and in accordance with the laws of the Republic of Ireland, the user irrevocably agrees that the Courts of the Republic of Ireland are to have non-exclusive jurisdiction to settle any disputes that may arise out of or in connection with these terms.

If any provision of these terms is determined by a Court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid or unenforceable in whole or in part, the validity and the enforceability of the remainder of the provision in question and of the remaining provisions of these terms shall be separate and several and construed and enforceable accordingly and shall continue in full force and effect.

The failure of DETE/ NCPC to enforce at any time or for any period any one or more of the terms or conditions of these notices shall not be a waiver of them nor of the right at any time subsequently to enforce all terms and conditions of these notices.


Privacy 

This page sets out DETE's/ NCPC's policy with regards to the privacy of the users of its website. By visiting this website you are agreeing to the terms of this privacy statement. If you are not happy with the terms of this privacy statement and do not wish your information to be recorded, you may wish to leave this site.

The NCC respects the rights of its users and, except for the following list, does not collect personal information through its website:

  • Statistical information gathered automatically when you visit the website
  • Information provided voluntarily during subscription to NCPC email alerts

 
For general web browsing certain information is recorded in the website log files, which may include:

  • The top level domain name from which you access the internet
  • The IP address of the computer from which you access the website
  • The date and time each computer accesses the website
  • The pages accessed and the documents downloaded by each computer
  • The type and version of the browsers being used to access the website
  • The addresses of any third party webpage's which refer visitors to our website
  • Keywords used in search engines and directories to find our website
  • Keywords and phrases used to search our website

 
This information is used for statistical purposes only – including

  • to find out how many people are visiting our site
  • to identify what pages are accessed most frequently
  • to help us improve the information we are supplying to our users and
  • to make our site more user friendly

This information may be available to an agent of DETE/ NCPC who provides an analysis and reporting service to  DETE/ NCPC. This agent of DETE/ NCPC is registered with the Data Protection Commission and has provided written confirmation to DETE/ NCPC that they will comply with the relevant data protection obligations by keeping information secure and not using it for any purpose other than which it was provided.

An archive of these website log files and associated analysis and reports are retained indefinitely in the NCPC as a way of measuring patterns of website traffic over the years and in order to facilitate future planning.


Cookies

A cookie is a block of data that a web server places on a user's PC. Typically it is used to ease navigation through the site. However, it is also a useful means of the website tracking the user's path through the site, and identifying repeat visits to the site by the same user (or same user's machine). This can then help the website owner to, for instance, identify common navigation paths taken through the website or to draw a user's attention to previously unvisited content.

The NCC website uses cookies to track visitors for statistical purposes only, through Google Analytics. Google Analytics is a free service offered by Google that generates statistics about visitors to our website.

In order to consistently provide your preferred page appearance as you navigate through the website, one is also used to record whether you have selected 'normal text', 'large text' or 'high contrast' from the 'Appearance' menu on the top of the page.

If you do not want to accept some or all cookies you can adjust your browser settings as most browsers can be set to prevent them being downloaded.


Information provided voluntarily during subscription to NCPC email Alerts

Some pages of this website allow you to subscribe to the NCPC email alert system.

If you use the subscription form to subscribe / unsubscribe to alerts your email address and details are received by a member of DETE staff who will add them to or remove them from the subscriber database.

We will only use your email address for sending you communications for which you have specifically subscribed or requested. All email communications include details of how you can unsubscribe.

Your email address, full name and job sector is the information required to complete your subscription.

Subscriber lists are kept on a server belonging to and administered by an agent of DETE/ NCPC who provides the email alert software to DETE/ NCPC. This agent of DETE/ NCPC is registered with the Data Protection Commission and has provided written confirmation to the NCPC that they will comply with the relevant data protection obligations by keeping information secure and not using it for any purpose other than which it was provided.

For backup purposes, copies of email alert subscriber lists are stored on secure servers to which

  • a limited number of DETE/ NCPC staff within the Systems Department have physical access
  • a limited number of DETE/ NCPC staff within the Communications Department and the Systems Department have access via the internal network

 


Disclosure of personal information

DETE/ NCPC will not disclose a user's personal information to any other party, unless

  • it is required to do so by law, or
  • it is necessary in order to complete the user’s request or answer the user’s query

 

Security of your personal information

Due to the nature of the internet we cannot guarantee the security of any information whilst it is being transmitted to us via the internet.

However, we take our security responsibilities very seriously and take all reasonable steps (both technical and organisational) to protect your personal details once they have been received by the DETE/ NCPC.

Staff who have access to personal information gathered from the website are made aware of Data Protection responsibilities. Names of the DETE/ NCPC staff members who have access to this information are available on request.

Information that is no longer in use is retained on backup tape for no longer than 1 year.


Your right of access to personal information

You may inform us of any changes in your personal data and in accordance with our obligations under the Data Protection Acts 1998 and 2003 we will update or delete your personal data accordingly.

To find out what personal data we hold on you or to have your personal data updated, amended or removed from our files please contact us using the details below.


Privacy statements on third party websites

Where the NCPC website provide links to third party websites these links are provided for information purposes only and DETE/ NCPC is not responsible for the content, copyright or privacy policies of the website.


Disclaimer

By accessing and using this site you are agreeing to the terms and conditions contained in the notices. Users must read the important disclaimers, which follow as they affect the use of this site. The contents of these pages are provided as an information guide only. DETE/ NCPC do not give any warranties in respect of the site or in relation to the accuracy of the information or materials on the site or in relation to any software or services available through the site. DETE/ NCPC do not warrant or represent that the site or its contents are accurate, complete, current or virus free.

There may be other sites listed on this site. The DETE/ NCPC does not own, control or monitor such sites and is not responsible for the availability or content of such sites. Links to such sites are provided solely as a convenience to the user and do not constitute any endorsement, authorisation, sponsorship, affiliation by the NCPC/ DETE of such site, its owners or providers.

While every effort is made in preparing material for publication no responsibility is accepted by or on behalf of DETE/ NCPC or its third party providers for any errors, omissions or misleading statements on these pages or any site to which these pages connect. DETE/ NCPC denies all warranties of every nature whatsoever including without limitation, any implied warranties of quality or fitness for a particular purpose, any expressed or statutory warranties, and any warranties or duties regarding accuracy, timeliness, completeness or performance.


Liability

DETE/ NCPC will not be liable to the user or any third party for any consequential or incidental damages (including but not limited to lost profits).

As a computer user using the internet you are advised to take all necessary measures to protect your computer equipment from viruses, worms and other harmful programmes and DETE/ NCPC shall not be liable for any loss or damage of any kind caused by such viruses, worms or programmes or through faults or errors in the services provided hereunder or otherwise as a result of the incompatibility with the services provided hereunder of your computer or any hardware, software and/or equipment used by you.


Contacts

Should you have any concerns about the terms and conditions or with any of the issues covered in this statement, please contact us.