Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their presentations. They were interesting, enlightening and alarming. It is obvious that the concept of defence as presented within the Government framework in years past is no longer the same and everything is fair game and under attack. It is crucial that we up our game at greater speed and find ways to address disinformation, misinformation, the abuse of educational tools and the way in which the youth especially are being infiltrated. We initially laughed when disinformation played a role in interfering with the electoral process and at the amount of disinformation in that sphere, but we have a significant responsibility to be able to counteract such disinformation so that it cannot be used against us in a way that is unimaginable. At its most basic level, platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and so on contain abuses and people are allowed to create identities that are obviously not their real identities, yet carry weight in society, debates, arguments and the formulation of policies by political parties and others. Deputy Stanton stated that this was not to be brushed aside and we had to take it seriously.

I noted the witnesses' comments on the project being taken on by the European Commission in terms of Sweden being the model for how others might react and form a uniform approach to these issues. I hope that adequate funding and expertise are available to ensure that whatever emanates from that project has the potential to succeed for nations across Europe. We are starting in a handicapped position and we are carrying more weight than some of the other countries.

What the witnesses raised was not a question as such. Rather, it is something that we as a committee have to get up to speed on to ensure that we can make a contribution on behalf of other Oireachtas Members so that the Government is best informed and the EU plays its role in ensuring there is sufficient capacity, capability and funding to back that up and we can respond in the way we should.