Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am not clear from the Taoiseach's initial answer as to whether there is a protocol for the use of private accounts for official business. One presumes official accounts would have more security built in and it would make sense, I presume, for Ministers not to use private accounts for official business. The Taoiseach mentioned what has happened internationally with the amount of hacking ongoing and people accessing information. The Sunday Timeshas indicated that seven senior Ministers admitted to receiving e-mails for official Government business in their personal e-mail accounts and the Taoiseach used his personal account at least 161 times since 2011, with the material on 23 such occasions too sensitive to be released under the freedom of information process. That contradicts the assurance given by the Taoiseach in the Dáil last December. The newspaper claims the e-mails include information on corporation tax. The Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality also allegedly used a personal Gmail account to deal with matters relating to An Garda Síochána, judicial investigations, the Attorney General and so on.

Will the Government put in place a protocol that prevents a Minister or someone in the Department using private accounts for official business? Is that now the case? Is it the Taoiseach's view that if it is not now the case, it should be the case?

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