Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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142. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if his Department uses any system software for the auto-deletion of email messages; if so, his Department's guidelines on the use of such a system; and the length of time emails are stored before they are auto-deleted. [25183/15]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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In line with good email management practice, my Department deploys systems for filtering or quarantining spam emails and emails with potentially malicious or inappropriate content. For emails which pass through these filters, my Department does not use any system software which globally auto-deletes email messages. The email system in use in my Department, like most modern email systems, does allow individual system users to create rules for automatic email processing, which could include an auto-deletion rule. My Department's records management policy guidelines, which are updated regularly, serve to inform all staff of the procedures for classifying, filing and retrieving records while also ensuring that standards for a systematic and consistent approach to creating, maintaining and disposing of records continue to be practiced by all staff. These guidelines define what constitutes an electronic record and set out the record keeping obligations of all staff with regard to such records. They provide examples of electronic records that should be retained on files, advice on how this process should be managed and guidance on deciding which electronic records need not be retained.