Mr. Pat Larkin:

The salary is very robust. Obviously, it has been a little muted in the past year or so but it is very robust. We have seen scenarios where third year students' work placements were being kept by their work placement organisation at salaries that were perhaps greater than the lecturers they were returning to as a starting point.

We are typically seeing salaries in the range of entry points typically being around €30,000 to €50,000 depending on skill sets. There is very quick progression to medium salaries of €75,000, €85,000 and €90,000. Then, for highly specialist roles like scientists or artificial intelligence, AI, specialists, etc., the sky is the limit in some respects, which comes back to the Deputy's question. We have done a very poor job. One of the opportunities for us is reaching into the very early stage talent pipeline and attracting far more female participation into the industry. Like the tech industry and probably worse, we have very low female participation. There is not good awareness. If we do the basics right, which is to educate our digital natives at a very foundational level from infant level education and upwards about good cybersecurity, cyberhygiene and cyberpractice then, ultimately, we educate them. We have not couched the language. Apart from it being a very technical skill set, there is actually much societal good. In some respects, cybersecurity people are the modern fire people. There is much societal good to what they do. We have not couched that language to perhaps a more female audience to say that apart from this being a highly technical, well-paying job, etc., it involves much societal good. We have not used the language to attract, for example, greater female participation. We view reaching into the ten-year-plus talent pipeline and going back down to primary level and getting some education as key. Where would the €1 billion I was talking about committing to this go? Some of it would go to reaching down into that talent pipeline. There are a number of really good programmes being run in UCD around being cyberwise. These are short courses for transition year and primary schools to make that workforce aware of cybersecurity and encourage good cybersecurity digital natives, but also encourage possible candidates for work in the industry.