Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 9 October 2018
567. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if there is a policy regarding ministerial use of private email for Government business in her Department; and if so, if it will be published. [41520/18]
View answerAs I advised the Deputy in my response to Parliamentary Question 553 of 25th September, official email business in my role as Minister is conducted via Department and Oireachtas email accounts. On occasion, when outside the office, I make use of a private g-mail account on my mobile phone to forward information of a non-sensitive nature to my private office, generally relating to diary appointments or constituency matters.
Minister of State Joe McHugh has also confirmed that only Oireachtas and Department email addresses are used for official business and that no personal email accounts are used for business purposes.
For completeness, I would advise the Deputy that, while my Department operates an Acceptable Usage Policy in relation to the use of ICT equipment, this policy does not specifically preclude the use of personal email accounts for official purposes.
