Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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66. To ask the Minister for Finance his views on whether the NAMA policy of deleting e-mails of former staff who are not deemed business-critical will impact on the ability of any future commission of investigation into NAMA to fully examine all evidence available; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16450/17]

Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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85. To ask the Minister for Finance if he is satisfied that the NAMA policy of deleting e-mails of former staff who are not deemed business-critical is in line with the governance standards of State bodies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16449/17]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 66 and 85 together.

I am advised that NAMA's records management policy is entirely in line with best practice among public and private organisations.  I am also advised that implementation of the policy ensures that all key records held by NAMA are retained and that they will therefore be available, if required, for any business purpose including in the event that a commission of inquiry is established into the sale of Project Eagle.

It is widely recognised that records management is a prerequisite to the effective management of FOI obligations by FOI bodies.  Indeed, the Code of Practice for FOI published by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform in 2015, in accordance with Section 48 of the FOI Act, states that in order to facilitate the smoother operation of FOI in public bodies, there is a compelling need for sound record management practices and system.  The Code further states that FOI bodies should implement records management policies that address the management, retention and destruction of records and that such policies should recognise the 'life cycle of records'.

The same perspective is reflected in best practice in other jurisdictions.  For example, in the Code of Practice on Records Management, issued under Section 46 of the UK FOI Act to UK public bodies, the following is one of the key recommendations: "Authorities should define how long they need to keep particular records, should dispose of them when they are no longer needed and should be able to explain why records are no longer held".

I am advised that, in order to comply fully with its legal obligations under the FOI and Data Protection Acts, NAMA implements records management policies and practices which ensure that all records of business and longer-term value are stored in appropriate document repositories and retained for the appropriate period. This means that search and retrieval processes can be conducted efficiently and expeditiously so as to ensure that NAMA meets its statutory obligation to respond to FOI requests within the requisite deadline of four weeks.  NAMA's records management policy enables the extensive records' search required under FOI to be carried out with more efficiency, given that the volume of searchable records is reduced by the deletion of records of transitory or short-term value. I am advised that NAMA's records management policy and approach has been endorsed by its internal auditors, PwC.

The deletion of ephemeral or transitory records on an ongoing basis is in accordance with established best practice from corporate governance, records management and FOI perspectives.  I am advised that NAMA would not be able to meet its legal obligations under the FOI Act to respond to requests within the statutory deadlines in the absence of effective records management policies and practices.

A requirement of NAMA's Records Management Policy is that records that have a business or long-term value, including email records, are stored in central document repositories, including NAMA's Document Management System (DMS) and its file server.  These repositories are searched in response to FOI requests.

NAMA's policy is to retain the mail servers of staff for at least one year after their departure from the Agency.  This is to facilitate business continuity and to enable line managers to ensure that business and long-term value records are saved to the appropriate repository.