Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 29 September 2021

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation

Control of Exports Bill 2021: Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment

Dr. Eamonn Cahill:

Yes, absolutely. We are very conscious of the companies that are here. However, I will make an important clarification for the Deputy. The word "cyber" has taken on very negative connotations in the recent past. It is assumed to be synonymous with people doing nefarious things. Strictly speaking, cyber simply means relating to the computer systems. There is a very big and burgeoning cybersecurity industry in Ireland, but cybersecurity is quite distinct from cyber surveillance. We are always very conscious of that. The technologies being exported by companies here in Ireland are legitimate items intended for legitimate applications. They do not have the potential to be misused in the sense of the cyber surveillance that underpins the EU regulation. There are a couple of well known, high-profile products around the world that are designed specifically for use in surveillance ways, and the Deputy will probably be aware of some of the media coverage of that in recent months.

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