The Office of the Data Protection Commissioner has received more than 700 complaints so far this year, with many of the complaints relating to abuses of data privacy regulations made via mobile phone text messaging.

Data protection commissioner Billy Hawkes yesterday urged organisations that handle personal data to consider formal training as he launched the first certified programme for data protection professionals.

The Irish Computer Society (ICS) designed the data protection practitioner certificate in consultation with Mr Hawkes's office, following demand for a formal qualification from firms and organisations who wanted to assure consumers that they would properly handle any sensitive information.

A spokeswoman for the ICS said applications for the course had jumped following a recent breach in data privacy by the Department of Social and Family Affairs, while other serious breaches by Irish firms and the British government have put data privacy issues in the spotlight.

The ICS has already run the three-day programme for the certificate on two occasions, with most of the spots filled by public-sector officials, but people working for financial services and legal firms have also applied, the spokeswoman said.

Last year, the office received 658 new complaints, which in turn was a strong surge on the 300 new complaints it received in 2005.