Results 1,301-1,320 of 2,990 for speaker:Ossian Smyth
- Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Communications Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (26 Oct 2022)
Ossian Smyth: Only information that is a threat to national security is withheld. That is decided by judicial oversight.
- Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Communications Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (26 Oct 2022)
Ossian Smyth: No. Somebody can be deemed to be a high-risk vendor even if they have no national security problems at all because their equipment, for example, is poor quality. In that situation, there is no confidentiality about the-----
- Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Communications Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (26 Oct 2022)
Ossian Smyth: It is wider than that. It relates to any communications infrastructure - fibre and fibreoptic cables. It need not just be wireless. An obvious area is 5G, as there are particular characteristics to 5G, more so than 4G, that make it especially vulnerable to attack. We will carry out an assessment of all communications infrastructure in Ireland and designate which parts of the network are...
- Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Communications Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (26 Oct 2022)
Ossian Smyth: We are talking about critical infrastructure. Any threat to critical infrastructure is, therefore, a threat to the security of the State.
- Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Communications Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (26 Oct 2022)
Ossian Smyth: Critical infrastructure is defined in the network and information security directive as anything upon which the State relies. That includes, for example, energy networks, transport networks, airlines, gas, water, electricity and communications. The underpinning legislation for that is the NIS directive.
- Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Communications Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (26 Oct 2022)
Ossian Smyth: The network and information systems directive.
- Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Communications Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (26 Oct 2022)
Ossian Smyth: Yes. It is not the case that this only relates to State-owned networks.
- Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Communications Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (26 Oct 2022)
Ossian Smyth: In this legislation, we are just looking at the communications aspects of critical infrastructure. If we think about who the operators in Ireland are and so on, they are the people who own the fibre and mobile networks.
- Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Communications Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (26 Oct 2022)
Ossian Smyth: In communications, they tend to be private operators. They are almost entirely private operators. Therefore, private operators are running our critical infrastructure and private suppliers are supplying them with components. We have a situation where a private company is designated as an operator of essential services or a critical infrastructure provider.
- Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Communications Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (26 Oct 2022)
Ossian Smyth: Yes, the powers are vested in the Minister.
- Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Communications Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (26 Oct 2022)
Ossian Smyth: The Minister can use information from third-party sources. For example, he can commission research to make a decision on whether to designate someone as a high-risk vendor. It is only information that has a national security implication that he is allowed to redact, and the decision to redact is made by a judge. The Minister would have to go to the judge and make the case for redaction....
- Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Communications Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (26 Oct 2022)
Ossian Smyth: "High-risk vendor" is the terminology and concept. It is based on the recommendations of the EU toolbox for dealing with high-risk vendors, which was agreed at the Council of Ministers.
- Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Communications Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (26 Oct 2022)
Ossian Smyth: In Germany, for example, the classification of "high-risk vendor" is indirectly based on a comprehensive risk assessment on a case-by-vase basis. Germany also has a similar provision to our amendment in regard to critical components.
- Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Communications Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (26 Oct 2022)
Ossian Smyth: I will-----
- Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Communications Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (26 Oct 2022)
Ossian Smyth: Yes. I do not have the specific name of the law with me, but I will provide it to the committee. There are also examples in the Netherlands, Spain, Denmark and the UK. While the UK is not an EU country, we have designated in our legislation that the UK is to be treated the same as EU countries or is not to be considered a third country. I can provide the committee with the specific laws...
- Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Communications Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (26 Oct 2022)
Ossian Smyth: We will provide them in English.
- Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Communications Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (26 Oct 2022)
Ossian Smyth: There is a similar set of laws in the UK, but their designation of "national security" is done in the political system and not by a judge. We have made the decision to move it towards the Judiciary and away from the political system.
- Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Communications Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (26 Oct 2022)
Ossian Smyth: There is no appeals mechanism in the British legislation.
- Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Communications Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (26 Oct 2022)
Ossian Smyth: The Telecommunications (Security) Act 2021.
- Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Communications Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (26 Oct 2022)
Ossian Smyth: I move amendment No. 7: In page 18, between lines 25 and 26, to insert the following: "Minister may consult for the purposes of assessments under this Part 23.The Minister may consult with such persons as the Minister considers appropriate for the purposes of sections 21and 22.".