Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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Question 658: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she is satisfied that personal information relating to members of the public held on her departmental databases is safe from hackers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34275/07]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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My Department has put in place a robust Information Technology infrastructure, at both the hardware and software levels, to ensure that all data (including personal data) is safe from hackers. A complex infrastructure consisting of firewalls, routers, and specialized software has been deployed to protect against intrusion by hackers, etc. As a further measure, the Department has put in place a contract for independent testing and verification, on an ongoing basis, of the security control measures that it has put in place. At the computer application level, the Department has a sophisticated data access control system (Single Sign On) that includes user profiles. This provides for tailored access to data, appropriate to the individual user's needs and prevents unauthorised access to data.