The message, purportedly from the loosely connected organisation Anonymous, was posted to the ‘Anonymous Ireland Expect Us’ page on Facebook in recent days, and has led to concern among Oireachtas officials about the protections currently in place.

According to the warning, Anonymous plans to “take down” Leinster House’s encrypted computer defences on May 5 and make “all your information” available to the public.

The focus of the move is likely to be on sensitive files and internal correspondence related to the Government, political parties, and TDs. Also potentially at risk is data on expenses and donations to parties from private individuals and lobbyists.

It follows a threat by the hacker group last October over the creation of Irish Water, and a number of high-profile ‘successes’ against groups such as Fox News, Sony, the US Senate, and Bank of America.

An Oireachtas official said the body is prepared for any cyber attack and has “several security systems” in place to protect itself in any eventuality.

Anonymous published a two-minute video last October in which it said the Government was trying to impose water charges on the public by threatening fines, court cases, and the shutting off of water supplies.

In the video, entitled ‘Truth behind Irish Water charges’, they directed the message to “the citizens of the Republic of Ireland”. A masked individual — an image closely linked to the Anonymous movement — said if the Coalition continued with this approach it would face consequences in terms of its online security.

The video message states: “The Irish Government has embarked on an accelerated water-metering programme to have them installed in 80% of homes by 2016. It is with great sadness and frustration to know that your crooked Government is attempting to steal from you once again by charging you for the service of water being brought to your homes.

“The Government and Irish Water have been using extreme threats to force you to pay your water bills... out of fear of billing fines and the cut-off of water supply to your household.

“Anonymous have been watching. Your Government is lying to you. It is not against the Irish law to re-fuse signing with Irish Water. You are under no legal obligation to enter into a treaty with any private company against your will. It would run contrary to the Constitution, Irish consumer law, and European law, and would therefore be completely unenforceable as no records containing such law are in existence.

“The Government are gaining fear as the power is in the hands of the public. Grab it and own it. We are Anonymous. We do not forgive. We do not forget. Expect us.”

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