Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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183. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if Ireland has offered assistance following the request of the International Criminal Court for support from the international community to help mitigate the recent cybersecurity attack on that court; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39027/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I am aware that the International Criminal Court (ICC) reported on 30 June that it has been subjected to a targeted, sophisticated cyber attack. This is the second such incident since September 2023. I condemn these attacks as attempts to undermine the integrity of the Court and the international rule of law.

Ireland is a strong supporter of the ICC, and believes that the safety and security of the Court, its officials and those who cooperate with it is essential for the Court’s mandate to end impunity for the most serious international crimes. Ireland contributed €500,000 to the ICC’s Special Fund for Security to enhance the Court’s physical and cyber security infrastructure in 2024. This contribution greatly assisted in improving the ICC's resilience during the latest incident by enabling the Court to invest in an enhanced cyber security framework.

Ireland also hosted the Registrar of the ICC, Mr Osvaldo Zavala Giler, in Dublin in February 2024 for discussions on several matters, including cyber security issues. During his visit Mr Giler met with officials from the National Cyber Security Centre to review best practice in this area and officials from the Health Service Executive (HSE) to discuss lessons learnt from the 2021 cyber attack on the HSE.

Officials in my Department are in direct contact with the Registrar on this latest incident.

I also discussed the cyber attack with the President of the ICC, Judge Tomoko Akane, when she visited Dublin on 2 July. The President thanked Ireland for our continued support. Ireland is committed to working with Court officials and like-minded states to support and protect the ICC as it faces increasing global challenges.