Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

First, Chairman, I wish you the very best of luck in your role. I look forward to working with you. I apologise for not being able to make the meeting yesterday afternoon. The Select Committee on Arrangements for Budgetary Scrutiny was meeting at the same time. There is also a meeting later this morning, so apologies if I have to head to that. It is looking at a similar Estimates process, so I feel on this occasion I have to attend it.

I also wish the Minister the very best of luck. His is a hugely important Department, dealing with critical economic and social development issues of our time. Even though the budget allocation is very small relative to other Departments, the policy implications are huge. At the end of the Minister's five years in office we should be looking at tripling or quintupling the budget because the climate change challenge we face requires that sort of ambition. That is what we should be thinking of.

We should be thinking big and ambitiously. Similarly, in regard to digital communications I look forward to hearing details on An Post and other programmes.

In regard to Brexit, I agree with the Minister and I do not think roaming will present difficulties. I imagine there will be arrangements where companies such as Vodafone and Telefonica will apply the same rules. The more major issue - let me flag it - is trade and services. The United Kingdom is very capable and efficient at trading on the Internet. It is probably one of the best trading countries on the Internet. Could Britain be disadvantaged by Brexit as they are no longer in the Single Market? Will leaving the European Union free Great Britain up to apply other rules? The Minister mentioned the small companies that are and should be trading online. Are there consequences? This is not an issue to be decided on now. It is not in the Estimate. I imagine we will have to look at this issue in real detail because it is complex. Nobody knows what will happen in regard to traded services. There are international as well as EU rules around Internet governance. I image we would have to concentrate on them.

A difficultly in that regard is that the Data Protection Commissioner is under the Department of Justice and Equality, whereas the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform looks after Government information technology. The Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation also has an interest in it. The Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources has responsibility for cyber security, which is the correct place to have it. How will the co-ordination take place, in particular with the Data Protection Commissioner and the Cyber Security Office that will be set up? I would be interested to know how it works on cross party basis.