Executive must act to ensure personal data is handled properly following crisis

9.50.00am GMT Wed 21st Nov 2007

Alliance Health Kieran McCarthy MLA

Alliance Health Spokesperson Kieran McCarthy MLA has said that the Inland Revenue's loss of over two hundred thousand local people's personal details following two CDs going missing in transit is a total disgrace. He said there must be a thorough investigation into the issue and the Executive locally must set up strict protocol here to stop such practices and punish those involved in such a gross error.

Kieran McCarthy MLA said: "This loss of 237,000 local people's personal details is a total disgrace. There must be a thorough investigation in to this incident and there must be strong and enforceable protocol put in place to ensure such things never happen again.

"Its time that government stopped cutting corners, because their actions could have a very detrimental effect on peoples lives.

"The Executive must ensure that Northern Ireland's civil service acts quickly to create strict guidelines to prevent such sensitive data being lost among departments here. We need to see actions to demonstrate that the Executive will do everything possible to stop something of this nature happening in Northern Ireland.

"It will have been of little comfort that the Chancellor assured people that the police did not think the details had fallen into criminal hands because this should never have happened in the first place."

ENDS