A SCHULL woman who failed to fill out her census form properly had been a victim of a HSE data breach and was afraid of giving out more details about herself, a court heard last week.
Patricia Deeney (63) of Ard Cleire, Ardmanagh, Schull pleaded guilty at Bantry District Court for failing to provide requested information on the census form on April 29th, 2022 in a prosecution taken by the Central Statistics Office.
Defence solicitor Colette McCarthy said her client was given the census form and she completed it, but not to the best of her ability.
‘She had suffered a HSE data breach before and was receiving cold calls and requests for information on her bank account. She has found the invasion of her privacy due to the data breach very tough,’ said Ms McCarthy.
‘She felt a lot of the questions on the census form were invasive. She was reticent to answer them, but accepts that she should have filled out the form properly.’
The court heard that Ms Deeney is on sick leave from her job as a community welfare officer and has never appeared in court before.
‘This has been quite distressing for her. She works voluntarily in a charity shop and she does more good than harm. She’s not anti-establishment and she in fact helps people to fill out forms as part of her job.’
Judge Marie Keane said the court can’t ignore the fact that she is a community welfare officer and that she is responsible for looking after other people’s information. She noted the circumstances of the case and the anxiety suffered by the accused.
Judge Keane directed her to donate €250 to Pieta within 30 days and if paid within that time, she said she would strike out the case.
