A Dublin civil servant has been accused of leaking confidential government information to a foreign intelligence service.
Yevgen McKeeffe, aged 45, originally from Ukraine but with Irish citizenship, appeared at Dublin District Court today and was refused bail by Judge Máire Conneely.
It follows an investigation by the Garda Special Detective Unit (SDU).
Mr McKeeffe has not indicated a plea.
Mr McKeeffe is an executive officer - a junior management grade in the civil service. He has worked in two Government departments.
Judge Conneely heard he was arrested on Thursday afternoon at departures in Dublin Airport.
He was charged under Section 9 of the Theft and Fraud Offences Act for the unlawful use of a computer in his employment, which, on conviction, is punishable by a maximum 10-year sentence.
Reporting restrictions were imposed, preventing journalists from revealing his address in Dublin, the specific government department where he worked, or the overseas country implicated in the case.
However, the judge denied a defence application to prevent the media from naming the accused.
Detective Sergeant Shay Palmer, of the Special Detective Unit, said he arrested Mr McKeeffe at departures in Dublin Airport, and brought him to a garda station, where the accused "made no reply" to the charge at 11.46pm yesterday.
Detective Sergeant Palmer told the court that the civil servant worked in an information management technology section of a Government Department, having previously been in the IT section.
He said that the accused had worked on the department's website and an online portal.
Judge Conneely noted that the lines of inquiry were that the accused had allegedly obtained or transferred official department data, "and supplied them to a foreign intelligence service for personal gain".
The court heard gardaí seized electronic devices and documents during a search of Mr McKeeffe's home and that his workplace was also examined, and his desktop computer was seized.
Detective Sergeant Palmer objected to an application for bail. He told the court that he believed there were significant flight risk concerns.
He said that Mr McKeeffe had Irish citizenship but stated that he had no familial ties to Ireland.
Questioned by defence solicitor Peter Connolly, the detective sergeant agreed that Mr McKeeffe had no prior criminal convictions. The solicitor said his client had been in Ireland lawfully since 2002 and disputed the detective sergeant's stance that his client had no ties to Ireland.
He said that Mr McKeeffe had a job with a pension and a mortgage in Ireland, and that his connections here did not just have to be family.
Judge Conneely refused an application for bail.
Legal aid was granted.
Mr McKeeffe is due before Cloverhill District Court via videolink on Tuesday.
