Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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Question 360: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism 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. [32343/07]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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My Department's policy prior to disposing of redundant IT equipment, and specifically personal and laptop computers, is to format the hard disks of such computers, which removes all existing files and data from the computer. In addition, I would point out that, in the case of the personal computers, all of which would have been operational on my Department's network, information relating to the work of the Department is not stored on the PCs themselves but on file servers on the securely protected IT network of the Department. Users are allocated a space on the file server in which to store their files and are advised not to save files containing any important personal information on the hard drives of their PC.

Where possible, after the clearing of all data IT hardware is recycled and donated to Charitable Organisations on a first come first served basis.

The management and stewardship of computer data is kept under ongoing review, and is being addressed again in the context of the finalisation of my Department's IT Strategy 2008-10.