Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

I prefaced my statement by saying where the responsibility lies for this attack. It lies with the criminals who were involved but the Government has a duty of care and responsibility to the patients of this country for the delivery of healthcare and protection of their data. Its duty of care is far more to this country, given that this is an island of data. Right now we have hospitals where operations are being cancelled, people are running around with paper documents and staff are acting as runners between hospitals and GPs.

I raised this issue first in 2013 with the then Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Pat Rabbitte. Since then, many people have raised the issue. It is hard to get around the contradictions. Cybercriminals are operating a generation ahead of an island nation that hosts 50 international cybersecurity companies and 6,000 of the world's best cybersecurity experts. Yet there is no permanent home for the National Cyber Security Centre, NCSC, there is no director at the moment and the investment is paltry with regard to the responsibilities the centre holds. When will the Government invest properly in this?

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