The Data Protection Commissioner says he has serious doubts about the quality of data security in the public sector in Ireland.
Billy Hawkes says he is not satisfied that there is proper encryption on data in some public agencies or that staff are adequately trained in security protocols.
His comments come as British Prime Minister Gordon Brown today apologised for a security lapse which led to the disappearance of two computer discs containing personal data on 25 million people.
Mr Hawkes said: "The loss of two discs in the UK should act as a wake up call for the Irish authorities".
The security lapse is understood to affect hundreds of thousands of households in Northern Ireland and the North's own data commissioner was today inundated with calls about the security breach.
The "catastrophic" blunder by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) means that nearly half the UK's population - including leading politicians and businessmen - are at risk of identity fraud.
Two compact discs containing names, addresses, dates of birth, child benefit numbers, national insurance numbers and bank or building society account details of some 25 million individuals and 7.25 million families have gone missing.
The details of virtually every family in the country with children under the age of 16 has been lost.
"I profoundly regret and apologise for the inconvenience and worries that have been caused to millions of families...," Mr Brown told parliament today.
"When mistakes happen in imposing procedures we have a duty to do everything that we can to protect the public," he said, promising a review of personal data security.
Irish civil rights group Digital Rights Ireland (DRI) has said that the UK incident shows why data retention must be stopped.
DRI chairman TJ McIntyre said: "The UK government has shown that it can lose the contents of an entire database - 25 million records with the names and addresses of parents and children, national insurance and child benefit numbers and bank details."
"At the same time our Government has supported laws requiring telephone companies and internet service providers to spy on all customers, logging their movements, their telephone calls, their emails, and their internet access, and to store that information for several years."
"There is no reason to think that these databases will be treated with any more care. It is only a matter of time before that information is compromised as well, putting the most personal details of all Irish citizens at risk," he warned.
Labour Party spokesperson on social and family affairs Roisin Shortall has called for a full review of security procedures governing the storage by government departments and agencies of personal data on individual citizens.