Ministers lobby Treasury over bill for PSNI data breach

Stormont’s devolved government has “made a very strong case” to the Treasury to help “meet the demand” of a major police data breach, the first minister has said.

The breach happened two years ago when the personal details of about 9,500 Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) workers were published online by mistake.

Thousands of those affected are seeking compensation, but on Wednesday, the High Court was told the PSNI does not have enough money to settle the claims.

On Thursday, First Minister Michelle O’Neill said meetings have taken place with the PSNI Chief Constable and the finance minister and she is “very alert” to the issue.

A previously published PSNI estimate put the bill at more than £100m.

“We have to finish those conversations yet, but clearly this is one of those big pressures that we have on us in terms of being able to meet this financial cost,” O’Neill said.

“But we have been doing everything we can to ensure that the Treasury hopefully responds in a positive way to actually allowing us to meet this demand.”

Northern Ireland’s Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly called the situation “deeply frustrating”.

She said people affected by the data breach deserved to have “recognition”.

“I suspect what was communicated to the court reflected reality – this is not budgeted for within the PSNI budget at the moment and that’s understandable.

“The PSNI budget is under a huge amount of pressure… but that doesn’t necessarily mean that that money can’t and won’t be found,” Little-Pengelly added.

The deputy first minister said the cost is potentially significant and would pose a challenge for the Northern Ireland Executive.

She said that if “responsibilities are there, then those will be and have to be met, as challenging as that may be”.

The data breach involved the online publication of personal details of all of the PSNI’s police officers and its civilian personnel.

The details were released in response to a Freedom of Information request in August 2023.

The data included the surname and first initial of every employee.

It also included their rank or grade, where they were based and the unit in which they worked.

The details briefly appeared in a list on a website, but was quickly removed when the breach was discovered.