Two Irish MEPs have hit out at EU criticism that Ireland is soft on social media giants.

The European Parliament will say tomorrow that Ireland should be taken to court for failing to clamp down on privacy breaches by companies including Facebook and Twitter.

Independents for Change MEP Clare Daly said it was “absolutely wrong” of other governments, MEPs and the media to criticise Ireland’s data protection commission (DPC).

“I’d be the first in the queue, like normal, to say, yes, Ireland is bending the knee to big corporations and all the rest, but actually, in this narrative it’s not actually true,” Ms Daly said yesterday.

“Seriously, to call for infringement proceedings against Ireland is a bit pre-emptive now when delays aren’t their fault and we’re talking about new legislation.”

The resolution expresses “disappointment” with Ireland’s data protection commission and asks the Commission to launch infringement proceedings against Ireland for failing to “effectively” enforce the 2018 general data protection regulation .

Infringements can lead to court cases and hefty fines if they are not resolved.

MEPs also say Ireland’s data protection commissioner, Helen Dixon, takes too long to decide on cases.

In a separate resolution earlier this year, MEPs expressed “great concern” about the fact that the DPC “generally closes most cases with a settlement instead of a sanction”.

MEPs believe Ireland mishandled a case taken by Austrian privacy campaigner Max Schrems against the US social media giant.

The EU’s top court took over the case, eventually ruling in favour of Mr Schrems, saying that personal data transfers to the US were illegal due to invasive US surveillance.

It follows criticism by France’s tech minister, who cast doubt on Ireland’s willingness to tackle a recent Facebook data breach that led to half a billion users’ phone numbers being leaked online.

“I think the criticism is unfounded and it’s misplaced and it’s not doing anything for advancement of the whole area,” said Fine Gael MEP Deirdre Clune.

“It’s been whipped up and we’re at a position now where there are resolutions in parliament that we are going to have to abstain on or not support.”