By Ailish O'Hora, Irish Independent

Gardai are expected to send a file to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in the coming weeks following an investigation into the suspected sale by a civil servant of personal information on hundreds of claim-ants to a private detective.

The civil servant, who was working in the Department of Social Protection, has been suspended and gardai and the Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) have been investigating the incident for a number of weeks.

It is understood the DPC has also raided the private investigator's office and the premises of three insurance firms to gather information on the claimants.