Dublin South West Sinn Féin TD, Seán Crowe, has described the latest revelation that a mass of sensitive information has been stolen from or lost by the HSE since the end of 2008, as “unacceptable”.

Crowe said that the Dublin/Mid Leinster HSE Region, which is responsible for the Dublin South West area, is particularly bad and has the most disappearances or losses in the entire state.

Deputy Seán Crowe said:

“Freedom Of Information (FOI) requests made by the media have revealed that a mass of sensitive information, including the individual files of patients, have been stolen from or lost by the HSE since the end of 2008. This is quite simply unacceptable.

“According to the Freedom of Information Act records, between January 2009 and December 2012 a total of 69 storage devices went missing. 51 of these devices contained sensitive information, while 20 had no encryption in place.

“61 of these devices have now been written off as stolen.

“The situation was so bad during this period, that one device was disappearing every three weeks.

“The material includes 52 laptops, 13 USB sticks, three BlackBerrys, and one iPhone.

“This sensitive information was lost despite assurance from the former HSE Chief, Brendan Drumm, that better information security was in place, following previous revelations of lost or stolen files.

“A string of internal HSE audits have also repeatedly raised concerns over the security measures in place at hospitals and health service offices across the country.

“Most of the disappearances occurred in the Dublin/Mid Leinster HSE region, which covers the Dublin South West area. 28 items were lost in this region during this period, including 13 last year alone.

“The HSE has not revealed the exact nature of the sensitive information involved, but some previous laptops stolen from the HSE included detailed, unencrypted social worker notes on families, financial data, extensive staff personal information, and patient medical records.

“This recklessness and poor security practice is likely putting my constituents at risk of having their private data stolen and being used by criminals for fraud or identity theft.

“Considering the previous assurances given in 2008, this is totally unacceptable. Somebody needs to be held accountable.”

ENDS