asked the Minister for Justice the arrangements that exist within his Department for the disposal of confidential files and documents which are no longer required.
39.
Ceisteanna — Questions. Oral Answers. - Disposal of Confidential Documents.
38.
asked the Minister for Justice if he has carried out any investigation into the finding in a public dump in Palmerstown, County Dublin, in March last of confidential files from his Department relating to the affairs of members of the prison service; the outcome of any such inquiry; and the measures he is taking to ensure that confidential documents are not disposed of in this way in the future.
(Limerick East): I propose to take Questions Nos. 38 and 39 together.
The arrangements for the disposal of confidential waste in my Department are in accordance with those applying throughout the Civil Service. There is a contract with a commercial waste disposal company to destroy unwanted confidential papers from its headquarters. The company pulps the paper under the supervision of the Department's staff. In other offices of the Department, confidential waste is destroyed, usually by shredding or burning, by the staff themselves.
The finding of papers at Palmerstown was investigated and the indications are that, through a misunderstanding, the papers in question were disposed of as ordinary waste paper. Appropriate steps have been taken to avoid a recurrence.
In view, however, of the reference in one of the questions to confidential files relating to the affairs of members of the prison service and of statements issued to the media to the effect that what occurred had endangered the personal safety and even the lives of the officers concerned, I think it is right to say that the papers in question were not files about officers but signed slips of paper from various members of staff requesting the Finance Branch to make deductions from pay and to transfer the amounts into a savings account. Although such transactions are of course private and should be treated as such, as they normally are, I doubt that very many people would agree that any possible threat to the safety of officers concerned could have arisen from what occurred.
The question of the safety of officers arose from the fact that the names of officers and the prisons to which they were allocated were also on the documentation and that is where the danger lies in view of the assaults on prison officers recently. Can the Minister indicate what specific steps have been taken to ensure that documentation in relation to the affairs of prison officers, even in regard to non-confidential matters, are not disposed of on public dumps in future?
(Limerick East): That type of information on file is disposed of by the waste disposal company which has a commercial contract with my Department and the paper would be pulped under the supervision of the departmental staff. On this occasion, due to an error, confidential papers were disposed of as ordinary waste paper and it ended up in a dump. I do not think that this is likely to happen again.
The new procedure for parliamentary questions will be in operation on Tueday, 11 June. In accordance with the order made by the Dáil on 28 May, answers will be provided in the Official Report for the remaining questions on the Order Paper.