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Updated at 23.15pm
DETAILS HAVE EMERGED of a data protection breach at Irish Water.
The Office of the Data Protection Commissioner has confirmed ten cases whereby a customer of the utility had their bank account details sent to their landlord in error.
One customer of the company, Paul Keogan, who spoke to TheJournal.ie, said he had registered with Irish Water for a direct debit.
Keogan later received a call from his landlord, who told him he’d received a letter from the company, with bank account details attached.
The bank details turned out to belong to Paul.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner said…
“I can confirm that Irish Water reported this matter to this Office under
the Personal Data Security Breach Code of Practice and it was dealt with as
a data security breach.
“This required that (1) affected individuals be notified of the matter, advising them of steps they can take to protect themselves, (2) the actual recipients of the letters be contacted and asked to return the letters to Irish Water and (3) put in place procedures to prevent a repeat of this type of incident.
The statement concludes that:
These requirements have been addressed by Irish Water and on that basis, this Office has concluded its investigation into the matter.
The Office was informed of the ten cases on Wednesday of last week.
We also contacted a spokesperson for Irish Water, who said the company was aware of the situation, and was investigating.
‘A shambles’
Keogan, who spoke to us shortly after 11am this morning, said he had had no contact from Irish Water over the problem.
He was a “little bit miffed” when informed of the mix-up by his landlord.
But the situation was exacerbated as he tried to phone the utility to address the problem…
I gave up after about an hour.
He also emailed and Tweeted the company to try and resolve the situation, he said, but hadn’t received any response.
“I’m in a very fortunate position in that I trust my landlord,” Keogan said.
“I’m happy that a mistake has been made — but there doesn’t seem to be any methodology to let you get back to them and try and find out how this has happened
It’s the most irritating way of doing business… It’s an absolute shambles.
Keogan, a theatre lighting designer based in Dublin, said he wanted to stress that his landlord was a ‘good guy’ and that he was grateful for the phonecall, which he received at the weekend.
He said he had initially made contact with the utility in order to ensure there weren’t any problems with billing, as he lives in a house that’s split into two units.
“I wanted to make contact to make sure the account was in my name, and to make sure there was no confusion about the people in the other unit.
“I would like to speak to somebody,” he added.
“There seems to be no recourse… There seems to be no way of them getting back in touch or contacting you.”
Reacting to the data breach, Senator Lorraine Higgins said that Irish Water “has failed people”.
“I am fearful of a clear escalation of this problem,” she said.
“It is Irish people who will suffer as a consequence of the company’s failure to detect this problem.
How the company could not have detected this breach of customers’ data had been breached at an earlier stage beggars belief.
Data issues
Last month, Irish Water apologised to over 6,o00 customers who were sent letters by the company with data relating to other people.
The semi-state company had been investigating the possibility of a data breach after it emerged that letters sent to 6,329 multiple home-owners were wrongly addressed.
Ironically, the letters had asked customers to confirm their personal details, to allow Irish Water to update their customer database before water charges came into force.
Ongoing controversies…
The Cabinet met this morning to discuss the series of ongoing controversies at Irish Water, amid increasing speculation that major changes to the board of the company are planned.
However, in brief comment to reporters on his way in to the weekly meeting, Finance Minister Michael Noonan insisted there was “no plan” that he knew of to make significant changes.
Speaking at Leinster House this morning, Fianna Fáil’s environment spokesperson Barry Cowen called for a suspension of water charges while a full review of Irish Water is carried out.
Additional reporting, Dan MacGuill.
First posted at 1pm.
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In one word…. madness
@K H: Did I ever tell you the definition…of insanty?
@K H: Fanfare from govt for 30k completions this year is madness. 30k per year was needed in 2011 until 2026….. we’re now 250,000 homes behind. And that gap isn’t closing with just 30k completions….. madness!
It’s becoming more apparent day by day we’re in an ever expanding economic bubble.
You won’t hear about in in Dail Eieeann though.
Too many vested interests at play.
@Tommy Haze: It’s not really a bubble. It’s a supply-demand problem. Right now, the demand is much higher than the supply. People want homes, but there aren’t enough homes to go around. There doesn’t seem to be any speculation like we saw in the lead-up to 2008.
@Tommy Haze: what happens to bubbles… they burst.
@Anon: not a bubble. People are making payments on their mortgages. Anyone taking a loan now, the banks have very strict criteria. Only way property prices will drop (and it won’t be a large drop) is for economy to go into a deep recession. Given Eire’s small size and global workforce expertise these days, there’ll be no Pop! Anytime soon
Only pushing our best talent out of this once great country. This country is a shambles. The hard worker, the educated are been driven to depression whilst all the wasters are been given hand outs. I’m done with this Kip
@Éanna o Sca: are you going to leave then?
@Éanna o Sca: Its heartbreaking
@Éanna o Sca: slán
@Jason Ferriter:
I came home from Oz just prior to the pandemic after 11 years as my folks are getting older and been frank, I wanted to come home. Going back on the 1st December
@Éanna o Sca: Taxed to the hilt for poor services as a result of bad management too. Govt taking in its biggest PAYE and VAt take ever but giving little back….. not to mention the massive corporate tax take too…… they are the biggest criminals going.
@Temp Stuff: obv one of those useless wasters getting a free gaff
This is nothing new, I’m a retired Bricklayer back in the late 70’s early 80’s we couldn’t build semi detached homes quick enough & it still wasn’t enough. The government don’t care cause they know the young will leave just as I & many like me had to. It’s been like that for 50/60 years..
@Donald Hegarty: It’s become the Irish way really.
No one could be surprised. FFFG are the worst mixture of incompetent and corrupt.
Look around you: if you think things are working and managed competently, for the benefit of the majority, vote FFFG.
If you think spending more than most countries on healthcare and ending up with the 80th worst healthcare on the planet is a poor result, shop around.
Etc.
@Chris O’Brien: FFFG aren’t half as bad as they’re made out to be. Although the commentators here like to paint Ireland as some kind of dystopian hellhole, the fact is that this country is one of the best in the world. If enough houses get built over the next couple of years, the housing crisis will subside. Things like rising prices, rents, etc. are issues that are impacting most countries across the western world. People are going to be very disappointed when Sinn Fein gets into government and is unable to fix most of these issues either.
@The Big Baba: Jesus wept…there’s always one government cheer leader around isn’t there. Yea mate, things are peachy in this country at the moment, thanks for commenting!
@damien leen: Sorry, I forgot that people on here are a bit simple and like to view the world in black and white. Any nuance whatsoever will see you labeled as a government cheerleader. If you want to continue believing that Ireland is a terrible country, then so be it. That’s your prerogative. Just don’t act surprised when voters express a slightly more balanced view on the subject.
@The Big Baba: But people want houses now,not in the next couple of years.
@Colm Coughlan: No political party can achieve that. We just don’t have enough construction workers, and our planning system (which is mostly independent of the government for good reasons) is slow-moving and bureaucratic.
@The Big Baba: not half as great as they make themselves out to be either
@Chris O’Brien: how much do you get paid to keep sending Provo propaganda?
@Peter Barnwallace: You are great propaganda for SF
@The Big Baba: so in other words, I’m alright Jack under the current Government, the rest of you can eat cake.
Not only are they absurdly overpriced, the houses that are being thrown up at the moment must be the ugliest the country has ever seen. Small, flimsy, slap-dash, ugly, cheap-looking and impossibly expensive. Someone’s having a laugh.
Actual worth is one third of that….what an absolute riiiip, and it has been engineered as such.
@Monty Carlow: One third the price would still be a rip-off. Have you seen the state of these Wendy Houses? A discount dog kennel would be more reliable.
@Tríona Commode: Build one yourself and see how much it costs you.
@uUleRhCu: I’d have to gather the funds to bribe An Bord Pleanála first.
@Tríona Commode: yawn.
Next to nothing about the terrorist attack at the airport.
@Ollie McGlinchey: perhaps because it had nothing to do with terrorists?
@Ollie McGlinchey:
The article is a Horror story for 1000s of hard working people that are unable to afford these astronomical prices! Fffg, what they are doing is criminal IMO.
Quite simply , madness
The bubble is gonna burst soon…..
FFG to do it all over again. Short gain for long pain
Only these trough piglets won’t suffer like you and I. Remove these lifelong troughers …
€320K average house price – deposit of €32K and loan of €290K – need a single or combined salary of €73K for average house. Average salary in Ireland is €45K
Is this really considered outrageous?
@Gregory Daniel: find me a house in Dublin for 320k so I can place my family in the standard that one of richest country in Europe should have. Most of these houses are not even close to quality of Soviet Union. Seems like in Ireland Dacia is sold for the price of BMW and we should be happy
@Gregory Daniel: Value of worth, are they ‘worth’ that? Mostly not. Also this place is the epicentre of idle outrage.
@B Journalist: I know facts dont help, however Ireland is not too bad in the big scheme of things.
@Gregory Daniel: average salary of €45k, not in the retail, hospitality, general operative manufacturing and many other sectors it isn’t, and I’m sure these areas are bumped up a bit too get this Median figure of €45k, and even at that, worth the cost of living, rents and mortgages etc, even €45k each in a 2 income household would be a struggle, especially for those renting, that’s where there’s a massive overpriced market.
@Andrew Giles: yes, however for a country with 5 million we do ok. If you reflect for a moment on 60% or more of the worlds population, things are not too bad here in Ireland. We love a good auld whinge here, many other in the world would give anything to have the complaints it seems a growing part of our population has.
New house prices seem to be a lot more than 2nd hand homes. Half a million in places like Navan. What the!
nice to see the government supports propping up the prices. some of the prices being demanded for some houses are absurd. the quality of some of them are dire. people really need their head examined if they are handing over what is being asked for some parties. but i guess theres an element of FOMO in play.
@Niall English: maybe it’s FOBH (fear of being homeless)
Statistics prove that Statistics prove nothing!
@Mark Gannon: 24.3% of statistics are made up!
I am the best here.
The Shinners want to remove every support that helps ordinary working people buy their own home, utterly shameful.
@Peter Barnwallace: would make economic sense. remove the supports and you should see a relatively corresponding corrections in prices.
@Peter Barnwallace: Thats right Stephen blame the opposition for our pathetic FFG government s
@Frank Cauldhame: I was wondering how long it would take him to make a new page hahaha if he just stopped with the SF ranting for two minutes he might not give himself away
Cheap houses in Tallaght and Clondalkin
@Gavin Kelly: just went on daft. Plenty of lovely homes less than 300k. You’ve everything on your doorstep there too.
@Ali123: in what universe is 300k cheap?
@Martin Mongan: it’s a house, a home, it’s where your going to live for your life, raise your kids and work hard to pay off. Of course 300k is a fortune to most people but it’s what you work for cause it’s a number1 priority.
Crash is coming… houses/land are way over value in Ireland compare to the other richer countries in Europe…
German property price’s are down 12,%
Ireland is a Ponzi scheme
Caused by the central bank lending
Easing ( government backed) to cover the demise of high tech manufacturing
Decline ( look at the figures)
It’s like early 2000 recession
Throw in 120k of refugees ( actual figure is probably higher )
Choas
You voted for it so what do you expect
God save Ireland from the Irish my late granny used to say .
She was a wise Mayo woman
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