People who had their data stolen in last year's cyber attack on the Health Service Executive have yet to be informed.
The HSE was targeted by a major ransomware attack in May 2021 that caused widespread disruption and saw information held on HSE computer systems illegally accessed and copied.
The HSE said the gardaí provided it with details of this information in December 2021.
"The HSE has been reviewing the data that was illegally accessed and copied to allow us to notify individuals as required and is in the process of verifying the identity of the relevant individuals for notification purposes," the HSE said in a statement to RTÉ News.
"This is taking time due to the volume of data impacted and the importance of ensuring we are notifying the correct people.
"This process is well advanced and we anticipate being in a position to notify relevant data subjects as soon as possible."
The HSE said that where there is an obligation to notify people under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), relevant individuals will be notified directly by the HSE.
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The HSE says it has been monitoring the internet, including the dark web, since the cyber attack and has seen no evidence that the illegally accessed and copied data has been published online or used for any criminal purposes other than a small amount of data which was referred to in an article in May 2021 by the Financial Times and subsequently removed.
"The HSE is taking every step necessary to minimise the impact of this data breach and to safeguard individuals' personal data against any potential future unauthorised activity," the HSE said.
The HSE obtained a High Court order on 20 May 2021 restraining any sharing, processing, selling or publishing of the stolen data and the order remains in place.
"Our cyber security experts are continuing to monitor the internet and the dark web for illegally accessed information," the HSE said.
"They are looking for any signs of it being published or used and we will act immediately if they see any evidence of this."
