Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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359. To ask the Minister for Health the protocols and or guidelines he has issued in respect of the use of personal social media accounts by officials in his Department; the number of sanctions imposed by his Department on its own officials in the past ten years to date in respect of social media output by its officials, verbal, written or otherwise; if social media platforms are restricted on his Department’s network; if an application (details supplied) is available to use and or download onto Department issued mobile phones; and if not, if it is barred from use. [14515/23]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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My Department's Acceptable Usage Policy outlines requirements in respect of the use of Departmental resources. The policy states that software owned by users in a personal capacity is not permitted to be installed or stored on any Departmental ICT Resource.

In respect of social media, the policy also confirms that when participating in activities on behalf of, or related to Departmental business, users must familiarise themselves with and adhere to the Departmental guidelines. Users remain responsible for their own use of such facilities in line with all departmental policies, whether blocked or not.

There have been no sanctions imposed against officials in respect of personal social media accounts in the period outlined.

Access to social media platforms is currently permitted on the network but are restricted as per the requirements of the Acceptable Usage Policy. My Department sandboxes all official applications on mobile devices and social media applications cannot be installed into these protected areas.