Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has said that a data dump of people's personal information by the HSE hackers on Monday is entirely possible.
Speaking this morning Mr Donnelly reiterated that no ransom had been paid to the criminal gang behind the cyber attack on the HSE's computer system.
Yesterday it emerged that the cyber gangsters demanding the State pay up to €20 million to get access back to the HSE computer systems have provided a decryption key that could unlock people’s personal data.
But the Russian hackers are still threatening to sell and publish the sensitive medical files if the State does not pay up by Monday.
Minister Donnelly admitted this morning that it is "entirely possible" that a dump of people's information obtained through the hack could come on Monday as a result.
Speaking on RTE's Morning Ireland Minister Donnelly said: "We're taking this threat very seriously. There obviously have been redacted pieces of information put up and made available on the dark web at this point.
"Because it's a criminal investigation we can't confirm whether the records are genuine.
"This sort of approach is quite standard procedure with these kinds of attacks.
"I know some people really are worried. If anyone were to be contacted about their personal information contact the Gardai.
"As to Monday there could very well be a data dump.
"Work is ongoing with the security contractors. What they're doing is testing the validity of the key.
"Initial results are positive but obviously it's a detailed technical piece of work and we need to be absolutely sure this will help to restore the health systems rather than cause further harm."
He added that "good progress" had been made restoring a number of systems across the HSE and work continues to get the HSE system back online in full.
Mr Donnelly added that the vaccine rollout had not been significantly affected by the cyber attack adding that the country was still on track to meet this week's targets.
He also raised the prospect of earlier international travel for fully vaccinated individuals within the EU by July.
