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

I get it. We are in a world where there is not only the regular play of politics one would have had traditionally but also online platforms. Not only are we open to cyberattack, we have facilities that are very easily weaponised by state and non-state actors to push confrontational politics, which can make that worse. That is a particular worry we have.

We had a meeting of the Joint Committees on Justice and European Union Affairs with Commissioner Jourová with regard to the rule of law recommendations given to us, one piece of which is about ensuring the electoral system within all states. We all know the dangers that have existed and the allegations made, whether it is the election in America or Brexit. It is to protect ourselves from those situations and undue influence. Mr. Filipovic has already spoken about the fact he has very many players who, in the best-case scenarios, are looking for stagnation but where the worst-case scenarios would mean putting themselves back to a place to which nobody wants to go.

The big question is what we, as a committee, can do and, more importantly, what the European Union can do to make sure there is a crystal-clear route map. What are the necessary supports Mr. Qirko and Mr. Filipovic would wish for that they may not be getting at present?