Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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445. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if there is a policy of data back-up in the operations of his Department and all agencies under his remit. [28113/21]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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ICT services are provided to my Department by the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO). The provision of ICT security, including data back up and recovery is part of that service.

My ICT Staff are engaging closely with the OGCIO on this issue, who in turn are engaging with the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) to ensure that best practice is followed as it relates to all aspects of Cybersecurity.

For operational and security reasons, the NCSC has advised not to disclose details of systems and processes which could in any way compromise those efforts. In particular, it is not considered appropriate to disclose information which might assist criminals to identify potential vulnerabilities in departmental cybersecurity arrangements. Therefore it is not considered appropriate to disclose particular arrangements in place in relation to cyber security tools and services and my Department does not comment on operational security matters.

The agencies under the remit of my Department are responsible for their own ICT security. I have asked each one to respond to the Deputy directly on this matter.