Gerard Craughwell (Independent)

Some great stories have been told in the past few days about the capture of the MV Matthew and the drugs haul in 2023. What a fantastic story it is. If anybody has not read it, please go to The Journal and read Niall O’Connor’s description of the capture of that ship. We pulled together the agencies of the State, namely, the Garda, the Revenue Commissioners and the Defence Forces. The time and effort that went into the capture of that ship are simply unbelievable. The story is online and people should read it.

The key issue is that the Army Ranger Wing went to take that ship with only one helicopter. Anybody who knows anything about military service knows that while a fast-roping operation is taking place, there should be a second aircraft with snipers on board covering those who are fast-roping onto the ship. That was pooh-poohed at the time as I and others were accused of being overly dramatic about the danger we placed our special services personnel in. Those who read the story will see exactly what danger they were put in and the thugs they were going to arrest. Thank God, they have all now been put in jail. I understand there is some difficulty in getting rid of the MV Matthew. There is a party interested in buying it but the cost is about €10 million. It is important to get rid of it.

On a separate issue in security, as Members will recall, the HSE experienced a ransomware attack that cost this country millions. In one particular ward, up on the whiteboard was the username and password for the computer. In another hospital, which is taking security seriously, they took the password, which was taped on to the side of the monitor, and put it under the keyboard. Does anybody take any notice of what it will cost this country if we get hit again? The HSE has cost this country tens of millions of euro. Not only that but there is a strong belief that lives were lost as a result of what happened in the HSE, and there is definitely anecdotal and empirical evidence to show that the appointment system in clinics and the like was pushed out something terrible. We have to wake up to cybersecurity in this country, and do it quickly.