A major data breach within the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) will have a “massive detrimental impact” on future recruitment to the force, a Westminster committee has been told.
Liam Kelly, chairman of the Northern Ireland Police Federation, also told the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee that 50 serving police officers in Northern Ireland have applied to work in Australia and 199 have asked for ill-health retirement this year.
The committee heard evidence from officer and staff association groups following the publication of an independent review into the data leak on Monday.
The details of almost 9,500 PSNI officers and staff were mistakenly published in August in response to a freedom of information (FoI) request. The list included the surname and first initial of every employee, their rank or grade, where they are based and the unit in which they work. Police later said the information is in the hands of dissident republicans.
A review into the incident, headed by Pete O’Doherty, temporary commissioner at the City of London Police, made 37 recommendations. It said the breach was the consequence of the service not seizing opportunities to secure and protect its internal information and pointed to a “siloed approach” to information management functions.
Asked about the impact of the breach on future policing numbers, Mr Kelly said: “I have no doubt that the data breach has had a massive detrimental impact on future recruitment.” He said the review report was an opportunity for the PSNI to demonstrate its desire to improve its approach to the management of data.
Supt Gerry Murray, from the Catholic Police Guild of Northern Ireland, said: “I think the recruitment with regards to coming from the Catholic, nationalist and republican community has been severely dented.”
Warren Scott, the PSNI departmental assistant secretary at the Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance, told MPs that 75 per cent of recent applicants for a civilian detention officer position had withdrawn from the process.
“That is really showing what people in the public are now thinking about having the PSNI as an employer,” he said.
The witnesses were also asked about the impact of the breach on serving officers and staff members.
Supt Murray said members of the guild “are still fearful and still anxious”.
“When the data breach occurred it was the middle of summer, we were all enjoying children, grandchildren enjoying the summer holidays,” he said. “We are now into the middle of winter with most of our staff, police officers, are going to work during the hours of darkness and coming home in the hours of darkness...My people are fearful.”
Supt Murray said he had spoken to 29 officers within the guild who have bought camera equipment and doorbell cameras since the leak. “This will go on for some time. This will not be resolved this year or next year because fear and the exclusion some feel is still very much with them.”
Mr Kelly drew attention to the “hidden aspect” of the impact on officers.
“What we have seen is a massive increase in people presenting themselves to occupational health and asking for help and support,” he said. “Unfortunately occupational health within the organisation has been underfunded and under-resourced.
“To see a psychologist in PSNI there is an eight-month waiting list. You can imagine the personal impact on someone who is struggling with their mental health that they can’t see and talk to someone for eight months.”
He said there have been 199 ill-health retirement applications, a 100 per cent increase on the norm. Mr Kelly said 50 officers had applied to go to work in Australia, which was “just extraordinary” given you could count such applications on one hand in a regular year.
“The data breach has been cited as the straw that broke the camel’s back for people,” he said. “They feel let down by the organisation, unsupported by the organisation and can’t see a pathway of coming back to the organisation.” - PA