Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy's final question is more appropriate to the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Bruton, who has overall responsibility for this area. I am not trying to deflect from or make politics of this issue. I have stated on numerous occasions that cyberattacks are a 21st century threat. There are many international IT companies located in Ireland, including Google, Facebook and Amazon. In regard to what Government has done already, budget 2018 provided increased funding for additional capacity in the national cybersecurity centre, NCSC, in terms of personnel and technology. The resources for the NCSC have been considerably expanded in recent years to meet its new responsibilities under the EU directives. A new cybersecurity strategy is being prepared, which takes into account the latest assessment of risks and international experience. Ongoing resourcing requirements will be reviewed in the context of the next cybersecurity strategy, which will be published in the coming weeks by my colleague, the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Bruton. The Minister provided an update in this regard at the most recent meeting of the Government task force on emergency planning, which is led by Mr. Richard Browne and meets every six or eight weeks. The national cybersecurity centre does fantastic work. Its work, on a daily basis, to protect our IT systems should not be diminished.

In response to Deputy Jack Chambers, the priority of the Defence Forces is to protect its own networks. If there are Defence Forces personnel surplus to requirements, under the service legal agreement, they will be seconded to the NCSC. Unfortunately, there are no surplus staff. These people are highly sought after by the private sector. This is one the issues considered by the pay commission.

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