Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

There is no sign of any incentive for retention, of any effort to try to reach level of ambition 2 from the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces, of duty allowance or of help for the navy. There is nothing in the budget. There is talk of increasing the military by 400 people. To do so, we must first find the 1,000 who are already lost which make it 1,400 that we need and not 400. I will take that up with the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform as it was covered by his speech but I also want the Department of Finance to be aware of it because it is serious.

The issue of cybersecurity was mentioned by the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform. It is important for the Minister of State's Department. Unless we beef up our cybersecurity to match that of our neighbours, especially in the Baltic states, we will lose foreign direct investment. We need to have a massive staff and massive awareness campaign on cybersecurity. I ask the Minister of State to look at that to see what kind of money is coming for it. The figure is not included. I thank the Minister of State for her time.