Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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Question 80: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if his Department's investigation into the circumstances in which a number of civil servants are reported to have accessed the personal welfare records of a person (details supplied) has been completed; if action has been taken on foot of the investigation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11008/06]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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Arising from reports in the media, my Department carried out an examination of accesses to the computer record of the person concerned. On a general basis, staff of my Department are authorised to access individual records as long as it is for legitimate business reasons. In view of the number of accesses in this case, managers were asked to examine the matter to establish if there were genuine business reasons for their staff accessing the record. The staff concerned were asked to set out the reason why they accessed the record and managers compiled reports on the basis of their replies.

These reports were considered by the personnel officer and formal warning letters have now issued to the staff members who were deemed not to have complied with the Department's instructions relating to records access. In addition, the staff involved have been interviewed by their managers and have been made aware of the seriousness of the matter. Their actions were not acceptable as every customer of my Department is entitled to full confidentiality at all times. Staff have been warned that disciplinary action will be taken in the event of any further breaches of the Department's data protection controls.

My Department views its obligations to safeguard the privacy of data under its control very seriously and has undertaken a considerable amount of work in this area over the past few years. A review is currently underway to see if new approaches and technologies can be applied to strengthen controls in this area.