David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am alone here, by the looks of things, but the witnesses are very welcome. This is our second week of excellent but quite frightening presentations. One of my sons told me that I am not a digital native. I am not sure if I am a digital immigrant or a digital refugee, but there is a serious point in that insofar as I understand that people who are digital natives think differently and that even some teachers have problems in communicating in schools because they think differently. Dr. Culloty said: "As with all disinformation countermeasures, the challenge lies in reaching the people who need ... [support]." Maybe she would tell us who these people who need support are. Would they be people like the Chairman, whom I assume is also not a digital native because he talked about 1972 and remembering it clearly, as I do. We have people who think in a certain way and who are used to all this. I came up on the train today and almost everybody in my carriage was on the phone. I came over on the bus afterwards. Everyone on the bus was on the phone. It reminds me of an old "Star Trek" episode in which they were all hypnotised by some kind of device and then had to try to break it. Science fact has overtaken science fiction in many ways. That is just one broad question about that area. Last Sunday I had some issue with my phone and I was amazed that my niece was able to tap, tap, tap and fix it straight away. I would be there two hours looking at it. There is a different way of thinking and manipulating and understanding this space. Dr. Culloty talked about people who need support most. I am aware of people of my vintage who get phone calls, emails and text messages from very persuasive and friendly people. Now and again, unfortunately, they give over bank details and then their money is gone. There is that generational divide, which the witnesses might comment on.

Core values have been mentioned on a few occasions, and I wish to link that with the threat to elections. I do not think that has been mentioned so far. The witnesses might comment on what we should be looking out for with respect to a threat to our electoral process here. Has there been any evidence of interference in past elections? What should we be looking out for in respect of the Electoral Commission, which I assume, rightly or wrongly, is awake to this risk? What can be done about that?

Ms Heinl mentioned the instrumentalisation of food. She might expand on that. I think I get the rest of what she said but I was curious about that.

Lawfare, using the law to cause problems, is also an interesting concept. The witnesses might expand on that as well for us.

If any of the witnesses were the Taoiseach tomorrow and were starting off with a new government, would they appoint a Minister with exclusive responsibility for this area?

I have another question for the witnesses. Would they assume at the moment - I asked this last week - that we are actually in a kind of war? In the past we had boots on ground. That is how we dealt with war. Now we have fingers on keyboards, and it is far more insidious but just as dangerous and quite disabling.

I might leave it at that. A lot of the other questions I wanted to ask have been covered already. They were just some thoughts that struck me on this. I think the whole issue of co-operation between agencies here in Ireland and a whole-of-government approach has been mentioned by everybody. I just wonder where we are there.