Dáil debates

Wednesday, 17 December 2014

Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed)

 

11:00 am

Photo of Alan KellyAlan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I wish to reply because some questions were raised. I wish to correct something. I inadvertently referred to the Data Protection Commissioner's website instead of Irish Water's website. The protocol that I am making available is on Irish Water's website.

Deputy Murphy asked about the discussions in respect of the Department of Social Protection but these preceded my tenure and I know Deputy Murphy respects that. The Department of Social Protection is the guardian of PPS numbers. There were discussions on the matter. Were there concerns? I know there has been some media profile on the matter but if there were concerns I was not privy to them and therefore, I cannot elaborate too much on the matter to be honest.

There are various workstreams under which the PPS numbers are available. I wish to reflect the level of depth on this matter. There are scanned images of application for allowance forms. Another Deputy asked a question about the forms. There are new forms. There are paper application for allowance forms. There are voice recordings. There are Irish Water customer information technology system areas. There are other electronic formats, for example, e-mail and electronic backup data. In respect of the scanned images of application for allowance forms, the PPS information will be manually redacted.

The process, which is quite seismic, considering the number of forms, is under way. In the case of the application allowance forms, once scanned images are redacted and quality assured, the paper forms will be systematically destroyed. Voice recordings containing PPS information will either be redacted or deleted, depending on the circumstances. SEPA guidelines prohibit the deletion of all calls as Irish Water is required to retain direct debit information. Components of phone calls will need to be redacted. I refer to the significant quantity of e-mails which will need to be processed as well as training material and other ad hocelectronic pieces of information, all of which will require detailed examination.

Backup information of data is another significant consideration. The management of data at this level involves a very great quantity of backup information. I can understand why this is the case. This backup information is stored in a secure off-site location with firewall protection and to which access is highly restricted. This backup material will also need to be processed.

The work streams must be examined and with a thorough re-examination to ensure that every single PPS number is deleted. This is the protocol being operated with the Data Protection Commissioner. That is the way in which it should work.

It is very easy to quickly remove a large bulk of PPS numbers - I am pretty sure I could do it myself - however, the process to ensure complete and utter guarantee that 100% have been removed, requires a more sophisticated approach. I hope the Deputies appreciate the technical detail which is included in the process.

I thank the Data Protection Commissioner's staff for their co-operation with Irish Water in this process. I suggest that at some time in the medium term - not late next year or anything like that - that Irish Water would come before the joint committee to confirm that the process has been completed. At that point I could then call on the Data Protection Commissioner to audit Irish Water in order to confirm that the appropriate process has been completed and that the PPS numbers have been deleted. It is a matter for Irish Water to work through the protocol with the Data Protection Commissioner but if this accountability gives greater comfort to individuals I have no problem in recommending that at some future date, to be agreed, once this technical process is completed - although I cannot give a date for completion because it is quite a technical ongoing process - that Irish Water would come before the joint committee in order to confirm that this process has been concluded and that everyone is satisfied that this has been done in the appropriate way.

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