In response to press questions, Minister Hugo de Jonge (Public Housing, CDA) said on Tuesday that he has stopped using his private address for work-related matters this week. The reason is that it was recently pointed out to ministers that this is “discouraged”. Monday night revealed de Volkskrant that De Jonge used his personal e-mail address as Minister of Health for communication with ministry staff about the corona policy. The Ministry of Health confirmed the news to on Tuesday NRC†
According to De Jonge, he used his private e-mail because he found the ministry’s e-mail system inconvenient. “Then I wanted to read a piece in the evening, and I couldn’t get into my mail,” he says, mentioning that he sometimes forgot the password, or sometimes it had expired. “Or if I wanted to adjust part of a speech – that is not possible in that program,” he says, “but it can be done very easily on an iPad – I love Apple”. In retrospect, he “shouldn’t have done it,” says the minister.
For security reasons, among other things, ministers are advised not to use their private e-mail for work-related matters. Because he used his personal communication channels as a minister, it is possible that information about, for example, the Dutch corona policy is now not accessible to citizens and journalists, who can usually request it via the Government Information (Public Access) Act (Wob).
On Thursday, De Jonge will debate with the House of Representatives about his role in the face mask deal with Sywert van Lienden and the other founders of the Auxiliary Forces Alliance Foundation. When he was still the Minister of Health, according to previous publications in de Volkskrant have insisted on cooperation with the mouth mask entrepreneurs at a top official. He previously denied being directly involved in the deal.