Three insurance companies have pleaded guilty to breaching the data protection laws by using social welfare information obtained by a private investigator.
The Office of the Data Protection Commissioner said the breaches by Zurich, FBD and Travellers were "very serious" and sent a message to the industry that information needed to be obtained lawfully.
In December 2010 the office of the Data Protection Commissioner was notified of a possible breach of the act by the Department of Social Protection.
As part of the investigation, its officials visited the office of Reliance Private Investigators in Kildare. They found evidence of social welfare data being passed on to three insurance companies. Follow-up investigations of Zurich, FBD and Travellers confirmed that this was the case.
The office found that the private investigators had obtained this information from a source in the Department of Social Protection.
Assistant Data Protection Commissioner Tony Delaney told the court that this was a "very, very serious" breach of the data protection laws.
But he said the three companies had pleaded guilty at an early stage and co-operated fully with the inquiry.
The three companies were given the probation act and each agreed to donate €20,000 to charity. Meanwhile, a Garda investigation into the leaking of information from the Department of Social Protection and the role of private investigators is continuing.
