Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There is a serious point to all of this because of the growing concern that efforts may be made by Ministers to discuss public business without recording this in accordance with the law. There is an obvious difference between party political business and public business but what protection do we have to know that private e-mails and non-recorded chat groups are not being used for official business?

I do not know if the Taoiseach saw Mr. John Mooney's article in The Sunday Times, where he stated the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, broke e-mail protocol by using "personal email accounts for sensitive government-related business". It was reported the Taoiseach has used his personal e-mail 161 times since 2011 in this regard and the information came from the freedom of information process. Will the Taoiseach confirm it is true that he has used that account 161 times? Is it appropriate that the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality would use her personal Gmail account for correspondence to and from the Attorney General, the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission and for issues relating to immigration, asylum-seeking cases and judicial investigations?

The Taoiseach has indicated a review and consolidation is afoot but will he state if there has been any vulnerability in this regard? Have any of the private accounts of the Taoiseach or the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality been compromised in any way by hacking or whatever? Is the Taoiseach concerned about this? There are sensitive issues in the justice sector relating to judicial investigations, Attorney General communications and so on. Mr. Mooney was able to read these e-mails and I was stunned, to a certain extent, when I read the front page of the newspaper and the level of material that got out.

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