Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I recognise that the Deputy and others have been highlighting the impact of the recent cyberattack on the HSE's servers and Tusla's ability to support vulnerable children. I have been deeply engaged with Tusla since the attack occurred.

As the Deputy referenced, she participated in a briefing for relevant spokespersons from political parties with the chief executive officer of Tusla. We provided a full overview of the issues involved. The CEO of Tusla was also in touch with the Chair of the Oireachtas joint committee, Deputy Funchion, and all members of the committee were written to.

As an independent agency, Tusla has responsibility for its own ICT functions and has engaged with the HSE, the National Cyber Security Agency and the Garda on this incident. My officials have been in daily contact with Tusla since first being alerted to the attack on 14 May. I have been in very regular contact with the chief executive, Bernard Gloster, to ensure Tusla receives all necessary supports.

Tusla is engaging with the Garda, the Courts Service and family support services on the provision of guidance and information to all its staff. Tusla will place an advertisement on radio from tomorrow letting people know that its core services are available. They are not available by email but are available by telephone, and that phone number and other relevant information will be provided across the media from tomorrow.

There is no evidence at this point that material has been taken from the servers that contained Tusla's information, although we cannot say conclusively that this has not happened. We continue to engage in a very detailed way at both my level and official level with Tusla, offering it all necessary support.

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