Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I accept some of what the Minister of State said. Nobody wants to display our weak points and ask that no one kicks us there. I understand that point as it applies to infrastructure. However, Deputy McNamara made his point in a straight manner. The idea is that there are components that are not to be used. We are talking about a situation where a blanket ban could be applied in respect of components across the board. Definitions of what is critical and what is not could result in a very funny conversation at some point in time.

We all have a notion about the companies that could possibly be named as high-risk vendors. I am told that many parts made by a particular company are not necessarily in the core of the network infrastructure. Has there been any element of an audit arriving through consultation with communication infrastructure companies? Do we have detail on that point? Deputy McNamara is not proposing a process over which the Minister of State can stand. However, there needs to be a process. We need to put something in place whereby we make the determination from a technical point of view as to what is critical. Beyond that, we also need a process for when we make a determination as regards national security. There needs to be some element of oversight. I accept that the Government might not necessarily wish to put everything in the public domain but there will be a need for some element of accountability and due diligence across the board. Has there been some element of an audit of the infrastructure as it exists at the moment? I accept the Minister of State has said much of this is about future-proofing.

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