Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There are certain things to which I cannot commit as Minister for Defence. What I can commit to is the role of the Defence Forces in the context of making a contribution to a whole-of-government response to cyber threats as they emerge. We are planning for this and we are investing accordingly. We have asked the Commission on the Future of the Defence Forces to look at the role the Defence Forces need to play to secure their own systems against cyberattacks as well as making a contribution to the national effort.

Today, I spoke at a UN Security Council meeting on cybersecurity and its impact on some of the issues the Deputy recognises, in terms of other parts of the world that are extremely vulnerable to cybersecurity threats that undermine the political stability and functioning of weak states, and how the UN can and should be responding to them as a collective. It is a massive challenge. We have to work on our own systems and protecting them and putting in place firewalls and barriers to ensure our systems are as protected as they can be. This is a challenge for every country in the world and the more we can collaborate internationally on this, the better results we will get.

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