Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We might have gone off on a tangent, but sometimes that can be very useful. Can we deal with the National Cyber Security Centre, NCSC? Obviously, it became an overnight sensation after the attack on the HSE. Every expert we spoke to who came before this committee and in other fora stated that they did not believe the NCSC had the resources that were required. We have seen a reasonable increase in resources, such as money, people and buildings etc. Does Mr. Stephens believe the NCSC is in the place it needs to be to do the job it has to do, in the context of dealing directly with major infrastructural companies and ensuring they carry out best practice as regards protecting us?

My second question is about the risk we are facing. We believed at the time that the HSE attack was carried out by subcontractors who come from a part of the world that is currently in the news. We are talking about hacker teams that operate as subcontractors. They may operate privately but certain states can avail of them when necessary. It is obviously a huge risk.