Ms Bláthnaid Carolan:

I thank the committee for inviting me to attend the meeting. I am attending in an advisory capacity, as mentioned, to support with the recruitment of the extremely important new position of director of cyber security, DCS, with the National Cyber Security Centre. It is worth mentioning that this role will be recognised nationally as chief information officer, which is relevant for what I will discuss next. I have been invited here in my capacity as a professional and seasoned human resources director, bringing more than 15 years of expertise in recruitment, particularly for senior and executive roles spanning technology, high tech and blue-chip companies both in Ireland and internationally.

We all acknowledge that the role of director of cybersecurity must be on the executive level team and board where business decisions among the executive team will be discussed and agreed together when they are decided. This is a new critical hire for the NCSC. The seniority and accountability of this role cannot be understated. The director of cybersecurity will be at the forefront of the centre to drive and influence right decisions on security, strategy, infrastructure, programmes, people, behaviours and so forth in developing a sustainable and scalable secure model. The gravitas and accountability that come with this role define the calibre of candidate that we need. This role demands the best-in-class hire. We must provide every opportunity to the NCSC to hire the best, most qualified, proven candidate, and one who is capable of delivering on an international level.

If we are to hire for success, we must hire expertise in this field, most likely attracting from the public sector and, therefore the remuneration of this role must be competitive. If we are to fill this role, we must apply the salary range and benchmarking of the private market sector. We recognise that this is a time when the job market is extremely competitive. We see a great deal of movement at senior level roles, particularly this year where there has been a huge lift in confidence in people moving. With all this in mind, the benchmarking on current market data for this role of director of cybersecurity, or chief information officer, provides for a basic salary ranging between €220,000 to €290,000 per annum, plus benefits including bonus, long-term incentive plans and stock options combined with a benefits package ranging between €150,00 to €200,000 per annum. It is worth mentioning, also, that we are seeing other varied and flexible benefits, for example, a one-time sign on bonus for executive hires ranging up to €20,000

. Everything hinges on getting this hire right to ensure the sustainable and secure success of the National Cyber Security Centre. We need to get the package right to ensure we hire the right calibre for this role. Once we have the package defined, we must ensure the process is immediately defined and runs smoothly. That will include branding the role, driving positive branding through social media, newspapers and other such channels, using our networks to reach out to and attract candidates of suitable calibre, ensuring the interview process is defined and clear from the outset to ensure that it runs smoothly and efficiently through a thoughtful process, bearing in mind that we are competing against a very fast external market in which candidates are hired and move quickly through processes. I recommend that we meet this head-on to ensure we hire the best-in-class candidate.