A man who found sensitive patient data on a city centre street and who highlighted his concerns in the media has been accused by the HSE of a data breach.

Documents with sensitive patient data identifying children and adults, details of surgical procedures, and reasons for missing appointments have been found on a busy city-centre street in Cork.

Labour leader Brendan Howlin is confident that his party will bounce back from a "dreadful" showing in the local elections in Cork in 2014.