Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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Question 595: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government 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. [32349/07]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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It is policy in my Department for all official information to be stored on the Department's network rather than on the hard drives of individual PCs. All broken IT equipment (mainly Desktop and Laptop PCs and printers) which is not reusable is sent for recycling under the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE directive). My Department requires the company recycling the equipment to furnish a certificate confirming either that all data have been erased from all PC hard drives or, where the hard drives are inoperable, that they have been physically destroyed.

In the case of equipment that is obsolete but not broken, it is the Department's policy to make such equipment available for reuse to schools and staff and to charities specialising in the preparation of equipment for reuse. In the case of equipment supplied to charities, the charity is required to certify that the hard drive has been erased to specific standards. In relation to equipment supplied to schools and staff, the hard drives are repartitioned and fully formatted.