Mother and her autistic son call on Department of Health to apologise after compiling a secret dossier on them
Unlawful things happened Deputy Data Protection Commissioner
RT Investigates report following Whistleblower Disclosure
A mother and her autistic son who discovered that the Department of Health had been keeping a secret dossier on them have told RT Investigates they have never had an apology despite the Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) ruling this summer that it amounted to serious interference, and which resulted in the DPC imposing a fine on the Department of Health. Speaking publicly for the first time in an RT Investigates report to be broadcast on Prime Time tonight at 9.35pm on RT One and RT Player, the family describe how the revelations have impacted on them.
When Adam Keogh was just 5 years old, his family had been among several families who took legal action against the State to secure special needs education for their children. Their case was not for compensation but to secure special needs supports in primary school. Adam got some supports and the case lay dormant. But 12 years later the Department of Health continued to work on its legal strategy to manage the cases taken by the families. Without telling the families or getting their consent, the Department of Health went to the HSE and asked for what it had on file on the dormant cases, including medical notes.
The sharing of their private patient information would have remained secret had it not been for a whistleblower in the Department of Health. In 2020, Shane Corr a senior civil servant, realised he could see the families' files. Of greater concern to him was the fact that he could read everything that transpired in a private consultation between members of the Keogh family and their HSE doctor.
Shane Corr: I saw something that frankly I can only describe as shocking. I saw an email from an official at the Department of Health to a doctor who is working for the HSE explaining that they were involved in litigation with one of her patients and asking for information from this doctor. There was no way once I saw the piece of correspondence from the Department saying, we're asking for information from you about a child but we're not going to ask for consent to get it', I was ever going to let that lie.
The Department of Health had obtained documents which contained confidential and sensitive details from a consultation between the Keogh Family and their HSE doctor without the family's knowledge or permission. Senior civil servant Shane Corr tried to raise his concerns. Then, in March 2021, he became a whistleblower and revealed to RT Investigates that highly confidential information on the wellbeing of people and their families was shared, and stored, in departmental dossiers. The information was to be used tactically to decide the most opportune time to settle or reactivate long-dormant High Court cases. The people involved, who had been diagnosed with autism, had not been informed. Neither had their parents.
Following Shane Corr's disclosures and the RT broadcast, the Department of Health said what had been done was part of normal litigation and was entirely lawful, proper and appropriate.
In an Oireachtas Health Committee on May 5, 2021, Sinn F in TD David Cullinane raised the issue: Some information of a very serious and sensitive medical and educational nature was being held on children, and that was being collected, in some instances without, in my view, the knowledge of the parents involved.
Robert Watt, Secretary General of the Department of Health replied: I am sorry, but the Deputy is now repeating once again allegations which are not true and which we have comprehensively addressed as being not true. We have set out more than 100 pages of documents that set out the position here, and what the Deputy has said is just not true. It is regrettable that motivation has been twisted in a way to suggest something untoward was being done by officials, when they were trying to close cases which have gone on for too long and in which it was in the interest of all parties that they be closed.
He also told the Oireachtas Health Committee that on the eve of the RT Investigates report he sought to intervene directly and called the then Director General of RT . We did not believe the allegations were correct, and I set out why we did not believe they were, and that I did not think it was appropriate for RT to make such serious allegations. RT however broadcast the report as planned.
After the broadcast, Robert Watt personally wrote to those who were potentially impacted to reassure them that the information was consistent with, and typical of, the sort of information which arises in litigation. He said Shane Corr's disclosures had already been examined and there was no basis to suggest wrongdoing .
But separately the Data Protection Commissioner had begun its own inquiry. Just one week after the RT broadcast, the DPC went into the Department of Health to see did the files reported on actually exist. This summer the Data Protection Commission's decision was published.
The report says the Department's practices were excessive, lacked transparency, and had no clear policy. The DPC report also criticised the level to which people in the Department of Health, with no involvement in litigation, could access the electronic files.
Tony Delaney, Deputy Data Protection Commissioner: Our decision says unlawful things happened from a data protection perspective. They broke the law, they've been penalized for it, they've been reprimanded for it. There's a ban on processing which took immediate effect. The Department got caught out very badly in this case, but others could be doing the very same thing today. And that's why they all need
Europe Stories
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
02/06/2026
Musically intelligent soft synth gets upgraded
Scaler Music will be probably be best known to many for their music theory tools, but their product range al...
02/06/2026
Powerful new vocal-production tool announced
Described as a vocal performance station , Klevgrand's latest plug-in combines pitch-correction with harmo...
02/06/2026
Launched alongside Go Green sale extension
McDSP have just released the latest addition to their APB line-up, DC-2 Dual Compressor, and have also announced ...
02/06/2026
Create custom tools for Ableton Live 12 Suite
Ableton have just introduced a new open JavaScript toolkit that allows anyone to create their own custom tools...
02/06/2026
Now features full H90 algorithm library
Eventide have announced the upcoming launch of the H9 Harmonizer Gen 2, a new and improved version of their hugely p...
02/06/2026
Plus UAD Half Yearly Sale now live
The latest arrival to the Universal Audio range delivers a new native pitch-correction plug-in that's capable of deli...
02/06/2026
Rohde & Schwarz to present comprehensive performance, conformance and spectrum-m...
02/06/2026
BTL Laboratory becomes Taiwan's first test house with a CTIA Certification c...
02/06/2026
If you've kept up with this article series, you know by now where to start w...
02/06/2026
With new DSP configurations and flexible licensing options, Calrec is removing the barriers to virtualised audio, giving broadcasters the freedom to scale produ...
02/06/2026
02 Jun 2026
VEON Closes USD 1.4 Billion Bond Offering, Refinancing 2027 Notes A...
02/06/2026
Praise for series three:
The Times - sun-dappled pleasure
The Daily Mail - The Homes Counties' Charlie's Angels
The Sun - 4* this [is an] enjoya...
02/06/2026
Wuppertal June 2, 2026
Gudrun Scharler Appointed CEO of Riedel Networks The Riedel Group today announced the appointment of Gudrun Scharler as CEO of Riedel N...
02/06/2026
Trust has become a commercial issue With global advertising spend forecast to exceed US$1 trillion this year*, the commercial consequences of weak governance co...
02/06/2026
June sees Ireland's cultural calendar in full bloom, as RT Supporting the Arts showcases a vibrant and wide-ranging programme spanning music, theatre, visu...
02/06/2026
After The Traitors Ireland launched in 2025, Irish audiences proved to have a taste for the global hit reality show. This Bank Holiday Monday fans can indulge e...
01/06/2026
Category line-up & sponsors announced
Photo: Paul Clarke
The Production Music Awards (PMA) have announced that submissions are now officially open ahead of...
01/06/2026
New hybrid sample/synthesis instrument revealed
Excite Audio have just released the latest instalment in their Evolve series, which has been developed in co...
01/06/2026
Latest TONEX expansion captures three rare vintage amps
The newest addition to IK Multimedia's ever-growing TONEX line-up introduces a set of three incr...
01/06/2026
Musically intelligent soft synth gets upgraded
Scaler Music will be probably be best known to many for their music theory tools, but their product range al...
01/06/2026
Rohde & Schwarz Satellite Industry Days 2026 guided by the motto From Earth to ...
01/06/2026
Luxembourg, June 1, 2026 - SES, a leading space solutions company, and Viva, Mexico's ultra low-cost airline, launched fast and reliable multi-orbit satelli...
01/06/2026
Mardi 2 juin 14h00
FilmLight (ARRI), 10 rue Ren Boulanger, 75010 Paris
Rejoignez-nous pour d couvrir comment FLAPI (l'API FilmLight) peut transformer e...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
29/05/2026
The days are getting longer, the temperatures are rising, and playlists are filling up for the season. With summer around the corner, Spotify's global edito...
29/05/2026
New retro-inspired MPC announced
There are few devices that have gained the status held by Akai Pro's MPC range, and in recent years, the company have s...
29/05/2026
Save up to 30 on acclaimed titles
Following a successful launch at Superbooth 2026, Bjooks have revealed that they will be continuing the Kickstarter campa...
29/05/2026
Binaural monitoring application improved
Genelec have just released an update that brings some powerful new features to their HRTF-based binaural headphone ...
29/05/2026
6 June 2026 at SAE Institute, London, UK
IMSTA FESTA 2026 is almost upon us, with some of the biggest names in pro-audio set to descend upon SAE Institute i...
29/05/2026
cetecom advanced certifies Rohde & Schwarz test solution for hybrid and Next Gen...
29/05/2026
May 29 2026, 09:00 (PDT) Dolby and rednote Bring More Immersive Storytelling to...
29/05/2026
Youtube exclusive special drops today
Watch now
UKTV today announces another e...
29/05/2026
Genelec announces V2.1 for Aural ID binaural headphone monitoring application posted: 29/05/2026
Aural ID 2.1 enhances binaural monitoring for stereo and ...
29/05/2026
At just 20 years old, Sean Melia from Summerhill Co. Meath has been revealed as the winner of Super Garden 2026. Sean is the youngest ever contestant and winner...
28/05/2026
Thomsons Climate Crisis Toolkit is already being put to work, helping journalist...
28/05/2026
A little refresh can go a long way. We've been making behind-the-scenes upda...
28/05/2026
Since early last year, our quarterly Creator Milestone Awards have celebrated podcasts from around the world that hit major streaming milestones on Spotify. Tod...
28/05/2026
New software-based MIDI multi-clock announced
Rapid Flow have just announced the launch of a new MIDI utility plug-in that aims to solve one of the most per...
28/05/2026
Company introduce most affordable interface yet
SSL's range of audio interfaces has just gained its latest, and smallest member, the SSL 1. Designed to ...
28/05/2026
New compact drum machine & sampler announced
The latest instrument from Sonicware sees the company kick off an all-new Deconstruct series with a compact dru...
28/05/2026
Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority modernizes nationwide ATC voice communications...
28/05/2026
Comscore Announces Appointment of Matt McLaughlin as Chief Executive OfficerJon Carpenter to remain as Senior Advisor to the Board and CEO
Global business lead...
28/05/2026
Wuppertal May 28, 2026
Berliner Ensemble Upgrades Backstage Infrastructure With Riedel Stage SystemsRiedel Communications today announced that Berliner Ensemb...
28/05/2026
Harmonic's Software-Based XOS Advanced Media Processor Powers Cost-Efficient 24/7 Channel Origination and Direct-to-Consumer Delivery
SAN JOSE, Calif. - M...
28/05/2026
RT presents Wild Conamara, a two-part natural history documentary that brings a...
27/05/2026
Spotify already brings together listeners' favorite music, podcasts, and audiobooks in one place. Now, we're trialing a new format that expands the cont...
Mother and her autistic son call on Department of Health to apologise after compiling a secret dossier on them
