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
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
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...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
01/04/2026
January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION
Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...
02/03/2026
NBC Sports selected Imaginary Forces to create the main title sequence for the M...
02/03/2026
The NFL announces the launch of the NFL Draft Innovation Challenge, a new crowds...
02/03/2026
The World Teleport Association (WTA) has named Skyline Communications' DataMiner SatOps solution as a finalist for the 2026 Teleport Technology of the Year ...
02/03/2026
Ventum Tech announces a strategic partnership with Pixotope, a real-time graphic...
02/03/2026
Victory , a free, ad-supported sports streaming service, announces the launch of...
02/03/2026
Global powerhouse Delta Goodrem to represent Australia at this year's Eurovi...
02/03/2026
SBS brings together prominent voices to discuss rising social division and seek ...
02/03/2026
NITV Unveils Wednesday Night Sport Night
Media releases
A Midweek Hub for Blak Sport
Flagship NRL program Over The Black Dot moves to Wednesdays at 9:30pm
...
02/03/2026
Rohde & Schwarz demonstrates FR1-FR3 carrier aggregation, advancing 6G readiness Rohde & Schwarz and Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. have reached another pivotal ...
02/03/2026
MELBOURNE, Fla., March 2, 2026 - L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) today announc...
02/03/2026
Harvey Norman tops New Zealand's biggest ad spenders as retail leads and telcos and beverages sure Auckland March 3, 2026 - Nielsen's New Zealand'...
02/03/2026
aconnic AG (ISIN: DE000A0LBKW6), Munich, and Arqit Quantum Inc. (Nasdaq: ARQQ, A...
02/03/2026
Advanced Systems Group, LLC (ASG), a technology and services provider for media creatives and content owners, has appointed Jody Boatwright as Chief Strategy Of...
02/03/2026
Lightware, an industry leader in signal management, is reinforcing its commitment to simplifying complex AV environments with the continued evolution of its TPN...
02/03/2026
ZEISS Cinema opens its doors to an exclusive screening, filmmakers Q&A and hands-on showcase of the new ZEISS Aatma lens family on Tuesday, March 10, 6:00-9:00 ...
02/03/2026
To expand the creative potential of the compact Astera QuikBeam, DoPchoice introduces the SNAPBAG Round. The new light-shaping accessory transforms the powerfu...
02/03/2026
Douglas Dubler
On a rooftop in New York City, veteran photographer Douglas Dubler watched the sun's angle shift across the urban landscape, his internal cl...
02/03/2026
ZEISS is expanding its Otus ML lens family with the introduction of the new ZEISS Otus ML 1.4/35. This manual-focus lens is designed for photographers who live ...
02/03/2026
Matthews Studio Equipment now offers the new Dinkum Systems White FlexiMount and Phone Mount Kit, a compact, highly adaptable setup for mobile content creation...
02/03/2026
Luxembourg, February 26, 2026 - SES and Africa Mobile Network (AMN) have expande...
02/03/2026
02 03 2026 - Media release Ausfilm and Screen Australia launch joint UK market initiative
Ausfilm and Screen Australia have announced Partner with Australia (...
02/03/2026
Monday 2 March 2026
Saturday Night Live UK announces writing team
L-R: Jonno Johnson; Charlie Skelton; Celya AB; Omar Badawy; Gr inne Maguire; Laura Claxton; ...
02/03/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Unveils the Trailer for 53 Sundays, the New Film by Cesc Gay
Entertainment
02 March 2026
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
Dis...
28/02/2026
With two features seen in Formula 1 coverage, the broadcaster aims to bring view...
28/02/2026
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth addresses a crowd of approximately 1,500 L3Harris employees in Camden, Arkansas, as part of his Arsenal of Freedom tour....
28/02/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/02/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/02/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/02/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/02/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/02/2026
Berklee Presents Mambo Mania: Eguie Castrillo and the Berklee All-Stars Big Band...
28/02/2026
Berklee Announces Two New Summer Programs in Los Angeles The Berklee Music Business Program and Electronic Music Production and Sound Design Workshop bring imme...
28/02/2026
AI-RAN is moving from lab to field, showing that a software-defined approach is ...
28/02/2026
Autonomous networks - intelligent, self-managing telecommunications operations -...
28/02/2026
Back to All News
Final Trailer for BEASTARS Final Season Part 2' Roars Tow...
28/02/2026
New way to intentionally discover molecular glues could expand drug discovery Scripps Research scientists and colleagues show how drugs that eliminate certain d...
27/02/2026
The E.W. Scripps Company names Oliver Gray as Vice President, Network Sports and...
27/02/2026
The Gotham Sports App, the exclusive direct-to-consumer streaming home of MSG Networks and the YES Network, is now available for purchase through Prime Video fo...
27/02/2026
ESPN and the Horizon League announce a new multi-year, multi-platform media rights agreement, continuing a 38-year collaboration that began with the 1988 Midwes...
27/02/2026
At the 2026 NAB Show in Las Vegas, NETGEAR will highlight its new switch models and major updates to its Engage Controller software. The company's network d...
27/02/2026
Riedel Communications announces that Fondazione Teatro alla Scala has deployed a...
27/02/2026
Lyuno specializes in media localization, including translation, dubbing, subtitling, and voice-over services for a wide array of entertainment content. The comp...
27/02/2026
Chyron Weather 2.3, the latest edition of Chyron's weather visualization suite for broadcasters and meteorologists, recently launched.
The release includes...
27/02/2026
Telestream, which concentrates in media workflow technologies, announces expanded practical AI enhancements across its Vantage, Vantage Cloud, EDC, Stanza, and ...
Mother and her autistic son call on Department of Health to apologise after compiling a secret dossier on them
