Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have had an e-mail address since long before I became Taoiseach. Obviously, I generally use the corporate e-mail for official purposes. In the past, there have been occasions when I have used that personal e-mail because of operational reasons. However, information does not go there from the secured encrypted e-mails. Government agenda or business comes to me via encrypted e-mail addresses.

I have seen what happens internationally. Irrespective of the firewalls put in place, I have a healthy scepticism of the ability of people to be able to breach them. Let us consider the extraordinary extent of e-mail production throughout the world.

Hundreds of thousands of e-mail messages that apparently were deemed to be encrypted are being published. I have to say I have a scepticism about things that are put on the cloud electronically. There is somebody out there with a capacity to breach that unless the walls are absolutely fireproofed. My Department has assured me that these e-mails are completely encrypted and encoded in a complex manner. The Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment is expanding the unit of people who are dealing with this. The unit will be in a stand-alone position to advise and inform companies and institutions regarding cyber attacks. As I have mentioned, I learned last week that there are thousands of attempted hits and attacks on the systems of American companies every day. In addition, there were many thousands of attacks on the systems of the American Government last year.

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