Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 2 February 2017
321. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he and any Minister of State under his Department use a personal e-mail account for work purposes; the security controls that are in place relating to the use of personal e-mail accounts for Department related business; if his Department has a policy on this matter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5250/17]
View answerI use both my Department and Oireachtas email accounts for work purposes. I do not use a personal email account to receive or send official business emails.
Minister of State Kyne has said previously that for Departmental business he uses his Ministerial or Oireachtas email accounts. He has a personal email account from his time as a member of the County Council and, occasionally, still receives emails from constituents to this account. Very occasionally, when out of the office, he accesses information such as constituency issues, appointments and draft press releases, on this email account.
My Department has a policy document called 'Information & Communication Technology (ICT) Policies for All Staff for E-Mail, Internet/Intranet & Computer Usage' which is mandatory for all staff to read and sign when taking up employment.
The Department's policy is that personal email accounts should not be used for official business as the Department provides the email infrastructure for employees to carry out their official functions.
