Further to my response to Parliamentary Question No. 134 on 28th November 2023, the Defence Forces have advised me that every effort is made to ensure that medical records of Defence Force personnel are maintained accurately and in confidence. Should any incorrect or inaccurate entries be identified, I am informed that they are duly corrected at that time and point.
For the Deputy's awareness, the data controller for medical records is the Deputy Chief of Staff (Support) and contact details for the Data Protection Officer for the Defence Forces are as follows:
Data Protection Officer Defence Forces, Director J1, Defence Forces Headquarters,Station Road, Newbridge,Co.Kildare.
As set out in my previous reply to you, the individual in question discharged from the Defence Forces in 1989 at their own request, having completed 12 years’ service. Since then, at their own request, my Officials undertook an extensive search, including through liaison with the Office of the Chief State Solicitor, to ascertain the whereabouts of two documents from his medical records that were provided in relation to a hearing loss claim that is now concluded, namely;
• AF 14 (Medical Examination sheet) from 11th February 1977 and
• AF 332A (Report on medical examination of member prior to discharge) from 20th March 1989.
Despite the best efforts of my officials and military personnel, it was unfortunately, not possible to locate these documents. The unsuccessful efforts to locate copies of these two medical documents have been explained in correspondence with the individual.
