Results 3,861-3,880 of 5,763 for speaker:Gerard Craughwell

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys and Update on Afghanistan: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (31 Aug 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: I thank the Minister for his attendance. Thirteen envoys were used in securing the seat at the United Nations Security Council. Were any of the other 12 approached with a view to filling this role? What duties or role was this special envoy for freedom of expression going to undertake which were not already covered by the permanent mission of Ireland to the United Nations, involving...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys and Update on Afghanistan: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (31 Aug 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: Perception is everything. If a clerical officer was to be appointed in the morning, there would be an open and transparent competition. I fail to understand how the Minister could appoint somebody to such an important global position without bringing that appointment to this committee first and having it discuss it and take some notice of it. I am really disturbed by some of the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (7 Sep 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: All right.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (7 Sep 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: We do not need to go into great detail on this.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (7 Sep 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: Was the phone encrypted?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (7 Sep 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: Once the Minister became aware of the interception of his phone - whether it was number spoofing or an actual hacking, I am not sure - was the director of intelligence and the director of the Defence Forces' communications and information system corps advised of the hacking or number spoofing that took place? I ask the Minister straight out for a yes or no answer, a simple yes or no.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (7 Sep 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: Okay. I want now to turn to the role of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. I want to know when the Minister, or his Department, first contacted the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Michael McGrath, about the costs of the special envoy, the role of that envoy, the salary and, in terms of travel arrangements, whether he or she could travel anywhere in the world...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (7 Sep 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: I am aware of that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (7 Sep 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: Expenditure on behalf of the State has to be approved by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. I need to know when that Department was contacted because a number of dates are being thrown around here and we are not sure exactly who knew-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (7 Sep 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: Before he does, can I come back in Minister because what I am going to ask next is relevant to-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (7 Sep 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: Okay. They can deal with that in a moment. I want to know if the Minister was aware of the potential impact of pension abatement on Dr. Zappone, if he discussed pension abatement with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and if he or Dr. Zappone sought a waiver of pension abatement with respect to this role? I ask the Minister to clarify that for me.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (7 Sep 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: The Minister spoke a little while ago about the cooling-off period. He has been in public office for 20 years and he clearly would be aware of the cooling-off period that applies to, in particular, people who have held ministerial posts. I am rather surprised that he was discussing an appointment within that 12-month period with a former Minister, who must surely have been aware of the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (7 Sep 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: I am out of time. Thank you.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (7 Sep 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: I will be as quick as I can. The fact that we delete messages does not mean they are gone. What steps has the Minister taken to recover the messages that were deleted? Will the Minister release the report from the Garda and cybersecurity people? Will he also release the note he gave to the director of intelligence and the director of the communications and information services, CIS,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (7 Sep 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: Can the Minister release the note that he gave to them?

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (22 Sep 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: I thank Senator O'Loughlin for bringing up the issue of the rangers. Her strong support for the Defence Forces is noted always. It is a little sad that we are talking about the Army rangers and the work they did in Afghanistan when the unit is falling apart for want of new recruits. We have a new Chief of Staff coming on board now and a new Secretary General in the Department. We also...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Cyber Security Centre Review: Discussion (22 Sep 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: I compliment the Minister of State on taking board the issue of cybersecurity, but we need to start seeing it from a much more macro perspective. We should compliment the Garda on reversing at least some of the damage done to the HSE. The Minister of State said a few moments ago that money was a bit of a red herring. I am appalled to hear him say that. Malta, one of the smallest countries...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Cyber Security Centre Review: Discussion (22 Sep 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: I will interrupt the Minister of State. If Cabinet members' phones are encrypted, yet one has been hacked, does that raise a massive national security question? We have been talking about the HSE incident and the impact that has had for the past half hour. If people can hack a Cabinet Minister’s phone, off the top of our heads we can think of the number of telephone numbers they...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Cyber Security Centre Review: Discussion (22 Sep 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: In fairness, I was not asking the Minister of State to comment on the Dwyer case. It was the concept. When we are talking about security, for example, in regard to the development of anti-virus software, as the Minister of State will know, we are always chasing the criminal.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Cyber Security Centre Review: Discussion (22 Sep 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: I was not going to go there. We are always chasing the criminal when it comes to virus software and we are always chasing the criminal when it comes to any sort of criminal behaviour, just as we are chasing the hardware when we are trying to develop the latest software. These are serious issues. Things like ethical hacking need to be proactive in the country if we are to be sure and safe....