Varadkar told Facebook that Ireland was ‘working hard’ to retain control of EU tech regulation

Tánaiste assured Facebook that Ireland wanted to stay at the forefront of regulating tech firms – something the company said was a ‘vital’ issue

Records released under FOI show Facebook lobbied the government over data protection at a crucial moment in the passage of new legislation on the issue. Picture: RollingNews.ie

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar told top Facebook officials that Ireland was “working hard” to make sure the social media giant would continue to be policed in Ireland at the height of high-stakes negotiations over who should regulate big tech across Europe.

Facebook also warned the government that Ireland’s data watchdog would have to make a decision on controversial new laws, which will decide whether the company can transfer data from the EU to the US, “relatively ...