Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I start by thanking the Minister. We have had many debates on defence, which has been on the political agenda for a long time, but it is fair to say that the Minister has taken it seriously as an issue and he has taken his responsibilities seriously. Part of that has been seen in the significant increase in Defence Forces funding in the budget and, as colleagues have said, in addressing the investment in radar and responding to a number of the recommendations within the commission's report.

It is important that we always continue to thank those who serve and who have served within the Defence Forces. Their role is often underestimated in the provision of security for the State and in particular at times of difficulty when we call on them. That role must be recognised. As colleagues have stated, it is imperative that we ensure that the Defence Forces become an attractive place for people to be recruited and that it is a safe and diverse organisation. I echo the concerns about female participation. I am conscious that so far in this debate, it has been all male speakers. It is important that we stress that the need to ensure that there is increased female participation in the forces and that there is a guarantee to anyone who does join that the Defence Forces are safe.

I believe that it is an appropriate time, building on the report of the commission, to have a national strategy on security and defence. I listened to Senator Clonan's remarks on where we are going with the future of defence and whether we will end up having an all-island defence force called "Land Forces Ireland" or whatever, but one thing that is certain - the Minister might not be surprised to hear me raise this - is the cyberthreat and the challenges we will increasingly face. It will be less about land forces and more about how we can respond to the threats that we experience in the digital space. We must remember that we were subjected to an attack on the health service during the pandemic, which to date has directly cost us €101 million, not to mention the impact it has had on countless lives and the families of patients. Ensuring that we have the necessary cybersecurity is essential. I have said previously in this House that I do not believe we are equipped to deal sufficiently with a strong series of cyberattacks. Senator Clonan is correct that warfare in the future will be hybrid warfare and we could easily be exposed. If we vote in a particular way at the UN Security Council, certain states that I will name - Russia, China and others - could decide that they do not like our approach, and it is not inconceivable that they would engage in either state-sponsored or state-condoned cyberattacks. It is not just in Ireland that we are seeing this. MI5 is not secure. Its website came down recently because of cyberattacks. In April of this year the ministries of finance and social security in Costa Rica almost shut down when it experienced Russian-originated cyberattacks. Costa Rica had to declare a national emergency. A number of days ago, Optus, the second largest telco provider in Australia was subject to Russian-originating cyberattacks. This is going to be the warfare and battles of the future. It is interesting that only today, both the National Cyber Security Centre and the Garda Síochána warned about an increase in the number of cyberattacks happening here in Ireland. That is the experience of small businesses and higher education institutions. We are going to see many more cyberattacks, in particular those emanating from difficult states.

Building on the commission's report, we need a strategy on defence and security. This has been lost in some of the debate that happened earlier this year when there was all the talk about whether we were joining NATO, but that is not the debate. The debate is what is best in Ireland's interests in terms of our defence and security. We must talk to those fellow traditionally non-aligned states. We must learn from the experience of countries like Estonia but also our partners in Finland, Sweden and Austria.

I commend the Minister on his work. I thank him for the investment in the budget. It is a positive sign and a move in the right direction. We do need to address the question of terms and conditions but I plead with the Minister to set out a national strategy on defence and security and ensure in particular that Ireland is well protected in the area of cybersecurity.