Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I want to raise two things this morning. The first one is my long-suffering search and rescue tender process that is under way. The pre-qualification questionnaire, PQQ, has been issued and the PQQ date has passed. However, I believe an entirely new PQQ has to be issued because the Irish Aviation Authority, IAA, issued an instruction to CHC, the current incumbent, to change its shift cycle from a 24-hour cycle to a 12-hour one. This means it will have to possibly double the number of crews it has. That will have a massive impact on the overall employee cost for the forthcoming tender. I estimate the current cost of salaries is about €20 million a year, so I estimate it will go to €30 million or €35 million a year over the duration of the next contract. We have to try to find out what is going on.

The second issue relates to the current situation in Ukraine. We had the report on the future of the Defence Forces and the Department and the Minister said they needed some months to consider it. Contrast that with what happened in Germany. The chief of staff in Germany criticised the state of the defence of Germany and within three days the German Government responded with a €100 billion package to improve defence. We need four or five months to think about €1 billion and yet the Germans were able to make a decision within three days.

I call for a debate in this House on cybersecurity. Cybersecurity is in the wrong Department for starters; it should be under defence. We need to know exactly what steps are being taken. We are entering an extremely dangerous time in cybersecurity. I am in contact with CEOs of private companies. Indeed, I am studying cybersecurity at the moment. We need to put it on the agenda here and now and front and centre because we are about to face serious attacks from all over the world.