Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)

I thank the Minister for undertaking to raise this issue at the next meeting of the emergency planning committee but he should seriously consider having the Department of Defence as the lead Department. I am aware that a cyber attack is seen as very unlikely but I am sure he will agree there is a need to be prepared for any eventuality, particularly as these sort of attacks can materialise out of nowhere and can be devastating because of the extent of the areas that can come under attack. It is not just the public Internet connections and information systems. It can attack bodies like the banking institutions and affect the exchange of information.

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