Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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Question 304: To ask the Minister for Transport the way his Department disposes of redundant information technology equipment; if he is satisfied that all stored information has been removed prior to disposal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32356/07]

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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My Department disposes of redundant information technology by donating it to charitable organisations or in some cases by offering it to staff as part of a wider policy to facilitate increased ICT skills within the Department. Where neither of these is appropriate, an external company is engaged to dispose of the equipment in an environmentally acceptable manner.

In all cases, the information stored on the equipment is erased to the DOD 5220.22M standard which was established by the US Department of Defence (DoD) in 1995 and is, I am informed, today, one of the most widely accepted methods of expunging data from magnetic media.