Catherine Ardagh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to discuss the issue of homelessness again. I would like to discuss the fact that very urgent reform is needed for people who live in emergency accommodation.

On a daily basis there are evictions and the human rights of the people who live in emergency accommodation are encroached. I call on the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government to establish an office or extend the powers of the Private Residential Tenancies Board, PRTB, to deal with complaints made by people who live in emergency accommodation. These people are without a voice and are continually treated like second and third class citizens. We have failed them by not providing sufficient housing. We cannot continue to fail them and encroach on their rights when they are living in emergency accommodation. I ask the Leader of the House to bring this issue to the attention of the Minister. I hope that the Minister will consider this matter.

I would like to discuss the ransomware or malware virus. There has been a massive ransomware attack in the past few days but the virus and its negative effects have been around for the past few years. Many small businesses and large State bodies have been affected by the virus. I shall outline what happened to one small business that employs fewer than five employees. The hacker took a picture of the person seated at the computer and forwarded a message seeking $500, and froze all of the documents and applications on the desktop. Fortunately, the hacker did not attack the company's server. Ultimately, the attack resulted in the computer having to be cleaned and the installation of an expensive firewall.

Small businesses struggle to pay such costs. I ask the Leader of the House to request the Minister to consider establishing a fund to help small businesses cope with data breaches and computer hackers. Small businesses are targeted as well as the HSE and large businesses. Small businesses do not have the same amount of IT support as larger organisations. Small businesses employ the majority of people in this country. Therefore, we should look after them better and help them cope with ransomware attacks.