Mr. Paul Walsh:

It is my pleasure to be here today along with my colleague, Mr. Eoin Byrne, our cluster manager. I am the chairperson of Cyber Ireland, the national cybersecurity cluster organisation. Cyber Ireland brings together industry, academia and Government to represent the needs of the cybersecurity ecosystem in Ireland and to address key challenges for industry. We aim to enhance the innovation, growth and competitiveness of the companies and organisations which are part of the cluster. Today we have over 120 members nationwide, comprising 40 multinationals, 60 Irish SMEs and 12 of the leading academic institutes, with our partners in government including the National Cyber Security Centre, NCSC, IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland. Our aim is to move forward Ireland's cybersecurity agenda and advocate for industry needs. Now more than ever there is a need for a collaborative approach across industry, academia and Government to address Ireland's cybersecurity challenges.

Cybersecurity is a rapidly growing industry internationally for which there are a number of opportunities and challenges. It is estimated that cybersecurity spending will reach €240 billion worldwide by 2023. The annual global cost of cybercrime has exceeded €1 trillion. The number of unfilled cybersecurityjobs is predicted to hit 3.2 million by 2022 and current unemployment levels are low. There is increased global competition for talent and investment and there is increased cybercrime globally and in Ireland. The economic impacts of cybercrime put our indigenous SME sector at risk and this has knock-on effects for our foreign direct investment, FDI, brand. There are skill shortages globally and locally and there is low level collaborative security research and development between industry and academia.

Ireland has become a significant base of international technology and security companies. Some six of the top ten software security companies are here. There are over 40 multinationals with cybersecurity operations in Ireland and there are over 60 Irish cybersecurity companies and start-ups. Over 6,000 people are working in our cybersecurity industry and 30,000 professionals have cybersecurity related skills. We have a strong talent pool with a highly skilled and multilingual workforce. We are a digital leader, attracting foreign direct investment and hosting much of Europe's data. We have a dedicated workforce with talent development programmes. Ireland is uniquely placed to benefit from increased global investment in cybersecurity. It has an opportunity to position itself as a global leader for cybersecurity talent and innovation.

Cyber Ireland aims to facilitate the cybersecurity ecosystem to capitalise on this opportunity. We have a strong focus on talent and skills to ensure a sustainable pipeline of cybersecurity talent. Our Cyber Ireland skills report was published in February and its key findings clearly highlight the opportunity and challenges facing the industry. Our finding tells us that: in Ireland, 62% of companies will hire in 2021; our cyber workforce is highly skilled; 48% of organisations have open or unfilled cybersecurity roles; 46% of cybersecurity teams are understaffed; 19% of cybersecurity teams require six months or more to fill a role; 42% of new hires are from outside of Ireland; and 27% of cybersecurity teams have difficulty in retaining female talent.

A sustained long-term strategy is needed to address these gaps and Cyber Ireland is focused on building a strong pipeline of talent from schools and universities to industry with our partners. We have programmes in place that promote career opportunities in cyber to students through the cybersecurity academy for secondary schools and career talks in cyber summer camps that we have planned for June. We welcome the skills initiatives that are focused on upskilling our existing workforce and attracting talent to cross train in cybersecurity.

We strongly believe we have an opportunity to be at the centre of a growing global cybersecurity market, support indigenous cybersecurity SMEs and start-ups, be a leader in cybersecurity policy and the response to ransomware, influence Europe's investment and prioritisation of cybersecurity, and create a national research and development centre along with the NCSC with a strong national security perspective.