John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 1047: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the procedures in place to ensure that personal data stored by his Department is secure. [30132/08]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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All officials of my Department are bound by the provisions of the Official Secrets Act. In addition, on the day of their appointment, all officials are made aware of their responsibilities under the Data Protection Acts. Ongoing awareness training is also provided; each Division has a nominated Data Protection Coordinator and, earlier this year, my Department launched a dedicated Data Protection Page on the Intranet, to facilitate and encourage awareness of data protection responsibilities among all staff.

All data held in my Department, including personal data, is protected by a wide range of physical and technical safeguards. The provisions of the Data Protection Acts are kept under regular review, to ensure ongoing compliance and the categories of personal data retained by my Department are reviewed annually, to ensure that our obligation to register these with the Data Protection Commissioner is discharged.

Over the past year, the Department has been placing a particular focus on increasing awareness among all staff of their obligations under the Data Protection Acts and is working with the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner in this regard. The Data Protection Commissioner recently gave a briefing to the Department's Data Protection Coordinators and we will continue to liaise closely with his Office.

John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 1048: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the number of laptop computers, data storage devices and USB memory sticks that have been stolen or lost from his Department in 2007 and to date in 2008; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30147/08]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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In the period in question two laptops have been stolen and one USB memory stick has been lost. No personal information was held on any of these devices and the data contained on them was unclassified. All laptops and USB memory sticks now issued by the Department are encrypted.