The Taoiseach has admitted he has used a personal Gmail account for official business in the past – but only “for operational reasons”.

Enda Kenny says he is always careful about only receiving cabinet details and official documents through his work email.

He has told the Dail that his official email address can only be accessed within his Department, or on encrypted devices.

But he has admitted that sometimes in the past he has used his Gmail to send work emails: “In the past there have been occassions where I have used that personal email because of operational reasons, but iformations does not go from the secure encrypted emails onto that and Government agendas or Government business comes to me via encrypted email addresses.”