Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein)
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192. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will provide details of the Tusla files that were affected by the cyberattack on the HSE; the current security of same; the number of files held by Tusla; if contact has been made with the data subjects in the case of breach; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28469/21]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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The recent cyber-attack on HSE IT systems has impacted on the operational functioning of Tusla, Child and Family Agency. Many of Tusla's key systems operate on HSE-supported systems, including the National Child Care Information System (NCCIS), the Child Protection Notification System (CPNS) and some legacy and corporate systems.

As a security measure, Tusla actioned an immediate containment shutdown across all systems on the 14th May. This was supported by agency-wide communication that devices were to remain shut down until cleared by the Tusla ICT Directorate.

A crisis management team chaired by CEO continues to meet for all key management decisions required with this incident. A technical incident room chaired by Director of ICT has been established. Tusla has communications and engagement with the HSE, the National Cyber Security Office, An Garda Siochana and relevant statutory regulatory bodies including the Data Protection Commissioner in view of the sensitive nature of records and files held by Tusla .

It is not possible to be definitive as to whether any of the data held has been compromised. A number of investigations and processes are underway in the HSE and Tusla to determine the impact on all systems. Initial indications from the advices received and Tusla's own assessment are that records from NCCIS have not been the subject of theft. However, this remains under active review in the overall investigation and ongoing assessment processes. It is not possible to state how many files are held by Tusla at this time.