Stephen Donnelly has revealed there are “extensive” uncompromised copies of patient data backed up by the HSE.
It means that the sensitive medical information of hundreds of thousands - or millions - of people could be safe. Mr Donnelly described as “a despicable attack on the people of Ireland” the malware that has effectively brought the HSE to its knees after its computer systems had to be shut down during last Friday’s hack.
“Now, it doesn’t mean we’ll have perfect back-ups, but there are back-ups there and that historic patient data will be accessible.”He added: “It really is a despicable attack and it’s an attack, not just on the HSE, it’s an attack on the people of Ireland and it’s an attack most importantly on the patients and their families.