Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I wonder if we are unnecessarily secretive about this committee. In Germany, for example, the citizens get a briefing on the equivalent committee.

They know the full composition and what is deemed to be a threat. That helps people on the non-governmental side in terms of their level of preparedness. We know what the State knows are threats, like hostile states, hardline dissidents and international organised crime, but where are we in relation to things like energy, cyber and climate issues? What is being proactively done in relation to emerging threats? Is independent advice available and routinely got? Is there engagement with other states? Has it been costed? Very often that cost upfront is better than having to do things in response, as we are doing in relation to the cyberattack which may well have happened anyway.

A recent article by Conor Gallagher and Martin Wall sets out our vulnerability in terms of policing of our airspace. We rely on the Royal Air Force, RAF, to scramble jets to monitor our skies. I do not have an issue with that but it would be useful and reassuring for us to get an understanding. More needs to be said and we need to be more open. That is not to say we should expose ourselves in a way that makes us more vulnerable.

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