Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is relevant when we are talking about the Garda. We need to know who is responsible for what because we do not know. My colleague is 100% correct. We have been raising for months the issue of who is in charge of intelligence and security in this country. The bottom line is that there is an opportunity now to open the conversation. If we are not going to change the Bill, there is an opportunity to open the conversation and analyse what is done elsewhere in the world, rather than being tied into something historical that needs to be pulled out from the cobwebs. We need a fresh look at where we are going in security and intelligence in this country.

I am deeply concerned. Cybersecurity was mentioned. I have spent the past two years working in cybersecurity. As regards the level of commitment we had, we could not even get anybody to apply for the director's job because we offered a salary of €89,000 per year. We had to get the joint committee to wake up whoever it was who was making decisions on that to offer a salary that would attract somebody into the post. We are not taking intelligence and security really seriously and that worries the hell out of me.