Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I certainly welcome the committee being established but we need to see the publication of the national security strategy. I have been raising this with the Taoiseach and his predecessors for some time. I also raised as long ago as December 2022 the need for briefings for Opposition leaders on national security matters. That was in the context of the HSE cyberattack, the presence of Russian ships in our economic zone and serious concerns about Russian spy assets in Ireland and activity of organised crime in Ireland. There is a serious lack of democratic oversight of national security, and we should be provided with briefings in opposition, as is standard in other countries, particularly if overseas actors are seeking to undermine our democratic system.

Finally, we have been seeking a response from the Taoiseach to a parliamentary question on the use of encrypted apps within his Department and other Departments. Are there guidelines in Departments on the use of apps like WhatsApp and Signal for the sharing of confidential information? Clearly, we have seen a real concern about that in the US. Can the Taoiseach say if he or, indeed, Government advisers use WhatsApp for co-ordinating their work?

See this speech in context