Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 September 2018
119. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Taoiseach if he or Ministers, ministerial advisers or officials in his Department have ever used private email to communicate on departmental issues between one another or with other persons or organisations; if so, the reason; and if so, if he will publish these emails. [38565/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraI and the staff working in my Department have been assigned Departmental email accounts which are used for official business. These accounts are only accessible through my Department's secure network and, in some circumstances, remotely using officially supplied and appropriately secured mobile devices such as laptop computers or mobile telephones.
My Department's ICT Policy stipulates that where personal email accounts are used for business purposes, due regard must be taken of the sensitivity and confidentiality of the information being transmitted.
The Policy further requires that, where personal email accounts are used for business purposes, a copy of any record created must be retained in an appropriate official electronic filing system and/or hard copy file which can be accessed should the need arise.
There may be occasional operational reasons to use a personal email account or from time to time, a third party may email me about official business using an address other than my Departmental address. This has occurred previously where the third party may have had a particular address to contact me prior to my appointment as Taoiseach.
In line with my Department's ICT policy, if such correspondence is received, I or my staff copy the reply to Government officials thereby creating a record of the correspondence which can be accessed at a later date. Indeed, such correspondence has been released under Freedom of Information.
