The ERC is committed to enabling high-quality educational research while upholding the highest standards of data protection, confidentiality, and ethical practice. To support this commitment, and to comply with the Data Sharing and Governance Act, the ERC uses Data Sharing Agreements (DSAs) to govern the secure and responsible provision and sharing of research data. Through its Data Sharing Agreements, the ERC facilitates valuable research while safeguarding the rights and privacy of students, schools, and other participants.

The ERC has signed a number of Data Sharing Agreements (DSAs) with other public sector bodies:

1. Department of Education & Youth (DEY): This DSA facilitates the sharing of personal data by the DEY with the ERC for the purposes of educational research and test development. This DSA is available to view at the following link: https://assets.gov.ie/static/documents/doeerc-020_230803-dsa-for-independent-research-of-education-data.pdf
2. State Examinations Commission (SEC): This DSA facilitates data sharing by the SEC with the ERC for the ERC’s work in education equality and on the allocation of special education resources. This DSA is available to view at the following link: thttps://assets.gov.ie/static/documents/c66eadcb/SECERC_025_240718_DSA_for_DEIS_and_SET_Allocation_data.pdf
3. State Examinations Commission (SEC): This DSA facilitates data sharing by the SEC with the ERC for the ERC’s work in educational research and test development. This DSA is available to view at the following link: https://assets.gov.ie/static/documents/33cbf0a0/SECERC_026_240718_DSA_for_Studies_Test_Development_and_Independent_Research_d.pdf