Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I do not accept Deputy Cathal Crowe's contention or premise that Ireland has proved to be the soft underbelly of European cybersecurity. Yes, we have sustained a significant attack and the attack is far worse than anything that has happened previously in Ireland but these type of attacks are happening throughout the world in countries that have an extensive security apparatus. For example, in the United States there have been 300 very large-scale ransomware attacks on major corporations, including 16 hospitals or emergency departments, in the past year alone. It was revealed last week that an insurance company in Chicago paid out a $40 million ransom. This is in the country that has the National Security Agency, the Department of Homeland Security, the CIA and the FBI. Despite all of this, these organisations have been penetrated and attacked and there has been an attempt to collect ransom. The single incident that has happened in Ireland is not proof there is something fundamentally wrong with Ireland's cybersecurity. Of course it will be a lesson, and it means we will be stronger and more resilient afterwards. We are looking at what the next threat is.

The Deputy spoke about co-operation with our European neighbours and this is absolutely essential. We are a small country. We are 1% of Europe's population. We rely on information sharing and co-operation sharing with our European partners and we are well regarded in this way. We are heavily engaged not just with European countries and members of the EU but also with the UK and the US, and they have been very helpful throughout the incident. As the Deputy knows, there was an attack on a regional health board in New Zealand.

Within hours, my Department was sharing information with them about their experience with the ransomware. That type of co-operation at policing level and computer security incident response team, CSIRT, level is critical. It is the way we can defeat these criminals. The criminals are going around attacking people in whichever country they want. If all the police forces and cybersecurity teams combine, they can track the criminals eventually. It just takes surveillance.