Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Ministers for taking these questions this evening and commend the many people who are working so hard to try to resolve this issue. I extend our solidarity to the many people throughout the health service who are suffering as a consequence of it.

I will ask several questions and then allow a couple of minutes for some replies. The Minister said that clearing out the systems and getting them going again is basically what is happening. I would like to be assured that, in addition to getting them going again, their security is being reinforced. I want reassurance that we are not planning for the future but actually future-proofing now as we rebuild the systems and get them going again. Many people have told me that many of our existing systems are simply alarm systems rather than defence systems and that we need defence systems put in place in all cases.

Do we know how many times similar attacks have been attempted in the past year? I am told that the NCSC has been warning the Government about these alerts and that, since they are inevitable, it has been seeking more resources. We have been reassured that the Government has sought international assistance on this matter and is working closely with international agencies. Will the NCSC, the Departments and agencies the Minister mentioned need world-class expertise? Will they need to bring in additional international assistance which will be able to put systems in place to ensure we can prevent this from recurring? In other words, how much international expertise will we need to bring to the fore to try to make our system secure as we move forward? We want to make sure we are not back in this position very quickly again.

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