Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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547. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the steps being taken to tackle cyber crime here; if a strategy has been developed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49601/13]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I can inform the Deputy that significant steps are being taken to tackle cybercrime.

Among the Bills promised in the Government Legislation Programme is the Criminal Justice (Cybercrime) Bill. The Bill was originally intended to enable ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime (the 'Budapest Convention') and the transposition of the 2005 EU Framework Decision on attacks against Information Systems. Drafting had been at an advanced stage when the European Commission presented a proposal for a Directive on Attacks on Information Systems which would repeal and replace the 2005 Framework Decision. Work on the Bill was put on hold pending finalisation of the Directive so that Ireland will have a single comprehensive piece of legislation dealing with cybercrime.

The Directive has recently been formally adopted and a review of the Bill is being carried out in my Department to assess what further provisions, if any, may be necessary to ensure that the Bill gives full effect to the Directive and the Convention.

An Garda Síochána have also undertaken a number of initiatives which have sought to strengthen the law enforcement response to cybercrime. The strategy of An Garda Síochána in this regard focuses on a number of key elements including prevention, detection and training.

The Computer Crime Investigation Unit (CCIU) of the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation is the primary Garda unit responsible for investigating computer crime in Ireland.

While the investigation of certain aspects of computer crime is undertaken directly by the CCIU, the Unit also provides expert assistance to Senior Investigating Officers and Investigation Teams tasked with the investigation of this type of criminality on a District and Divisional basis.

Members of the CCIU also provide warnings to the public in relation to various types of Cyber Crime, including Computer viruses, Denial-of-service attacks, Malware (malicious code), Fraud and identity theft and Phishing scams. The CCIU is also represented on the Irish Payment Card Service Organisation and the Irish Banking Federation High Tech Crime Forum.

In addition, a member of the CCIU is on full time secondment with CERT (Computer Emergency Response Team). The role of CERT, which was established under the auspices of the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources as part of a series of initiatives to deal with the general issue of cybersecurity, is to prepare and manage cyber incidents in conjunction with relevant stakeholders.

I can also inform the Deputy that members of the CCIU continue to be trained in the techniques necessary to counter cybercrime, in partnership with the Centre for Cybercrime Investigation at University College Dublin.

Finally, the Deputy might also be interested to note that cybercrime and organised crime were considered during the public consultation on the forthcoming White Paper on crime and that these subjects will be addressed in the White Paper.