State Bodies Data

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 June 2015

Tuesday, 23 June 2015

Questions (331)

Niall Collins

Question:

331. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his Department and any bodies under its remit have any protocols or guidelines in place regarding the types of electronic records which must be kept and which can be routinely destroyed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25161/15]

Written answers

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Data, in either electronic or hard copy format, are essential to the business of my Department. All records, including those in electronic form, are collected and kept in accordance with the National Archives Act and the Data Protection Act. In this regard, my Department has policies on archiving and on the protection of personal data based on the provisions of the respective Acts. The data protection policy applies to all records obtained or generated by my Department, which contain the personal data of individuals. Its aim is to ensure that all employees of the Department have an understanding of Data Protection and are aware of their responsibilities. I consider it very important that a culture of data protection prevails within my Department. To assist staff in complying with data protection requirements a number of policy and guidance documents have been put in place.

In relation to the retention and/or disposal of records, the Protection of Personal Data Policy provides that the Department has a responsibility to retain personal data for no longer than is necessary for the specified purpose(s) for which it was obtained and that personal data which is no longer required to be retained will be disposed of properly and securely. All electronic data are backed up in accordance with our backup policy and can be restored to particular points in time if required.

My Department has regard to the provisions of the National Archives Act, 1986 and the National Archives Act, 1986, Regulations, 1988, insofar as the destruction/disposal of records is concerned.

With regard to State Bodies under the aegis of my Department, this is a matter for the bodies themselves.