Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I apologise to the witnesses; during their presentation I was involved in legislation in the Senate and I do not have time to go into great detail here.

One of the documents before me is entitled The Specific Character of Ireland's Security and Defence Policy. Reflections on neutrality is mentioned. One of the great challenges for us relates directly to our defence policy. We no longer fight wars on land in the way we once did, but Europe is at war - the Continent, the European Union, is at war. It is at war in the cyberworld. The most vicious criminals are working all day, every day to engage in cyberattacks on the European Union and every financial institution and any other institutions one cares to think of.

In that context Ireland needs to move its strategic defence policy into that era. We have security elements within the country. I believe we need to set aside this notion that Ireland is a neutral country; we were never neutral. We were militarily non-aligned and that is all we ever were. The notion that neutrality is in some way challenged by involving ourselves in something as important as PESCO needs to be challenged. It is only with the might of the combined 27 and the economic might that will bring that we will be able to find the funding required to challenge the modern-day war of cybersecurity. If we are to do anything, we need to identify precisely where Ireland is from a defence perspective. We then need to invest.

I believe we should have a director of cybersecurity encompassing a slightly broader definition than just cybersecurity because there are other areas. Ireland's economy hosts approximately 40% of the world's soft balance sheets, representing an enormous amount in this country. However, this money is footloose and could move rapidly if there is a challenge. That rapid movement has the capacity to break the country and destroy our economy in a short time. We should set aside this notion of Irish neutrality and instead start talking about Ireland's alliance in the war in the cyberworld.

We are not talking about putting troops on the ground or some notion of a European army at some stage in the future. However, very soon Ireland will be contributing €280 million to the PESCO project comprising approximately €13 billion. Through the money we will put in, we will have the capacity and the intelligence in the academic institutions in this country that are capable of providing the research and leading the world in cybersecurity. This is something we should try to promote.

However, this needs an explanation to our citizens who have been told for so long that Ireland is a neutral country. We can hardly say we were neutral when we provided the weather forecast for D-Day. We can hardly say we were neutral when we provided safe flight paths over Donegal into Northern Ireland. We can hardly say we were neutral when we allowed those who landed in the country from sunken ships or whatever to quietly walk back across the Border. Let us get away from the nonsense of neutrality and talk about the real challenge from the world of cyberspace and everything associated with it.

Today is the first day I have publicly spoken on this, but I am becoming extremely concerned about it. Unless we have a director of cybersecurity under the command of the military, reporting directly to the Taoiseach, we will not be at the races when it comes to exploiting the advantages that will arise from PESCO. I would look for a co-ordinated group or seconded group of academics under the control of a senior military officer. Having a senior military officer at the front gives great confidence in the event of an attack when one sees someone in uniform coming out and speaking on it. We need to bring together academics and the business world, both the financial business world and the producers of goods.

We need to bring them all in under an umbrella group where they are managed and working together to source funding to develop better security systems in the area of software. We need to have an immediate response system in place in the event of an attack. In the world we live in today, there are attacks all day every day.

I taught information technology for 25 years. I worked mainly on the hardware side but I worked to some degree on Microsoft certified professional and Computing Technology Industry Association, professional certification. At the time we spoke about hardware chasing software because hardware was developing at a slower rate. We now have a situation whereby software and negative software are developing at a rate far faster than we can keep pace with. We need to put the resources in place. I think I have said enough on the matter. I am really sorry I did not get the full presentation from the Institute of International and European Affairs representatives. This place is rather busy at the moment.