The Dealer hears the furore over who in Teagasc had access to bank account information of staff members continues to form the core of tea-time break chats in Teagasc offices.

The Irish Farmers Journal revealed last week that, following a bit of an IT hiccup, payroll files were “inadvertently” opened to five unauthorised staff. All Teagasc staff, existing and retired (at least those retired for up to eight years), have received either an email or printed letter explaining the breach in security.

The letter signed by head of ICT Ronan Coady encouraged those seeking more information to contact Teagasc ICT security and continuity specialist, Sean O’Briain. Unfortunately, he was out of the country at the time.

Apparently Seán’s inbox and message minder were near melted when he got back.

It looks like the Payroll Five had access to this information since 2008, but it was only copped by the whistleblower last month.

Who are the Payroll Five? That, The Dealer doesn’t know.