Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Tánaiste for his reply, but I am somewhat disappointed that I do not detect a sense of urgency about this issue from the Government and political leaders. The Tánaiste read from the website of the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner. Addresses, telephone numbers and e-mail addresses of 1.12 million clients have been breached. This is a massive criminal conspiracy and event in itself and has profound consequences for people doing business online, particularly when offering their credit card details. The Government should form a task force or group between the Ministers concerned. I do not know which Minister will take the lead on the wider issue of cybercrime, but one must take possession of it and the Government should lead. I am not just referring to the specifics of this case, but to the wider issue. In 2009, some 119 breaches were reported to the Data Protection Commissioner. In 2012, the figure was 1,522, showing the extraordinary increase in such breaches.

This particular case is very worrying. If possible, will the Tánaiste or relevant Ministers ascertain the scale of this breach? Are the companies concerned telling us everything that they should? Is there full transparency in what consumers should be told? Has an analysis of what occurred been done so that future breaches can be prevented? This fundamental issue will have a considerable impact for business and people and, with the greatest of respect, we need a more coherent Government response than has been evident to date.

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