The state Department of Taxation placed several employees on administrative leave without pay this week following the discovery of an internal security breach of the department’s tax database.

The breach was found during an audit of the department’s security systems and internal controls this year, the department said Thursday. The incidents occurred at least as far back as 2008 and were referred to the Department of the Attorney General for review and investigation.

Donalyn Dela Cruz, spokeswoman for Gov. Neil Abercrombie, said the Tax Department turned over to the attorney general a few months ago a number of records that appeared to have been internally accessed. Dela Cruz said the breach was an "internal matter," and "preliminarily, there is no need for the public to feel that their information has been breached."

"What the public should know is they should feel confident that this administration is going to take immediate action when wrongful action is discovered."

"Protecting the integrity of tax records is a serious matter," Tax Director Fred Pablo said in a news release. "The possibility of wrongful actions are extremely disturbing, which is why these matters were immediately reported to the Attorney General."

A spokesman for the attorney general’s office was not available for comment Thursday night.