National Risk Assessment

Tuesday, 25 January 2022

Ceisteanna (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)

Peadar Tóibín

Ceist:

1. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the national risk assessment published by his Department. [61416/21]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Alan Kelly

Ceist:

2. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the recently published national risk assessment. [61501/21]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Bernard Durkan

Ceist:

3. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Taoiseach the extent to which the ongoing national risk assessment has identified particular issues needing priority attention. [61939/21]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Cian O'Callaghan

Ceist:

4. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the national risk assessment published by his Department. [63548/21]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Mick Barry

Ceist:

5. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the national risk assessment published by his Department. [3328/22]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Rose Conway-Walsh

Ceist:

6. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the national risk assessment published by his Department. [3336/22]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Richard Boyd Barrett

Ceist:

7. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the national risk assessment published by his Department. [3608/22]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Paul Murphy

Ceist:

8. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the national risk assessment published by his Department. [3611/22]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí ó Béal (13 píosaí cainte)

The Taoiseach

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 8, inclusive, together.

The national risk assessment has been prepared annually since 2014 and provides an opportunity to identify and discuss significant risks that may arise for Ireland. The experience of the past number of years has brought home the importance of work in the area of risk management and preparedness. By promoting an open and inclusive discussion on the major risks facing the country, the national risk assessment plays an important role in this work. A draft national risk assessment was published in July last year for public consultation thus providing opportunities for stakeholders and Oireachtas Members to contribute to the development of the report.

More than 50 organisations, public representatives and individuals participated in the consultation process. The final version was published by the Government in early December. Climate change, biodiversity loss, and social and economic inequality emerged as the most significant concerns highlighted in the submissions received, and risks across each of these areas are captured in the final report. Many of the risks included in the report had been identified in previous assessments, however, there are a number of new risks related to Covid-19 and a number of other previously identified risks have evolved significantly. For example, new risks identified in the report include inflation, economic scarring and digital exclusion. The combination of the pandemic, Brexit and supply-chain constraints have also exacerbated previously identified risks, including skills shortages and the supply and affordability of housing. This is at the same time as major risks, in particular climate change, are taking on even greater importance.

The national risk assessment also references emerging international views on lessons for risk governance from the Covid-19 experience, in particular an emphasis at EU level on improving resilience. There will be scope in the months ahead for further consideration of lessons learned for risk management. It is important to note that the national risk assessment is just one element of the overall system of preparedness and resilience planning for Ireland and is not intended to replicate or displace the detailed risk management and preparedness carried out across Departments and Government agencies.

However, it is an important opportunity to reflect on strategic risks facing the country in the years ahead.

An Ceann Comhairle

As there are eight questions in total, we will have to stick to one minute per question.

Deputy Peadar Tóibín

Will the Taoiseach provide the House with an update on the current status of the recovery from the recent cyberattack on the Department of Health and the HSE? Has the Government quantified the cost of the cyberattack economically and, more importantly, in terms of health and fatalities in our hospital system? For example, is the number of appointments that were cancelled known? Have the delays in the delivery of health services been quantified? Before the attack, the National Cyber Security Centre, NCSC, was funded to the tune of €5 million. To put that in context, the Taoiseach's Department spent three times that amount on PR during that period. As a result of the queue of crises that have developed in the State over recent years, the Dáil has taken its eyes off this particular crisis. It is really important that an update be provided on the damage that was done and the steps taken by the Government to make sure such a thing does not happen again.

Deputy Alan Kelly

We are in a very precarious situation with regard to what is going on with Russia at the Ukrainian border. There is also an issue here in our own territorial waters regarding the activities of Russian submarines and the manoeuvres of the Russian military. I listened quite intently to Mr. Patrick Murphy, CEO of the Irish South and West Fish Producer's Organisation. I spoke to him before I came into the Dáil today. This could have serious consequences for the environment, for fish stocks, including stocks of tuna and blue whiting and, possibly, for our communications cables. As the Taoiseach knows, this group is going to take a flotilla of boats out to the waters where they fish next month when the Russian manoeuvres are under way. As Mr. Murphy put it, this is their farm. Will the Taoiseach update the House on any communications he has had with the Russian embassy? Even though it is down four ships, will he send the Irish Naval Service to accompany the group that is going out to fish in these waters while the Russian manoeuvres are taking place?

Deputy Bernard J. Durkan

Is sufficient emphasis being placed on the supply of goods and services in the update and review that is taking place in light of the issues arising from Brexit and its ongoing implications? To what extent are the Taoiseach and his Department continuing to identify the best way to offset any negative impacts now emerging? The supply of fuel, an issue that has already engaged the House today, is obviously a very pressing issue and one that is becoming more important as time goes by. Is sufficient provision being made to provide alternative energy from this country's own resources and capabilities? What is being done to determine the availability of such energy resources at an earlier stage and to address issues in respect of offshore and onshore electricity generation?

Deputy Mick Barry

On several occasions during the pandemic, our health service was threatened with being overwhelmed. Ministers argued that this was due to the power of the virus, but this was only partly true. It was also down to the weakness of our public health service infrastructure. There were not enough beds, including ICU beds, and there were not enough staff. We got through it thanks to the heroic efforts of the health staff but we were also lucky. The result of this was that society was locked down for considerably longer than would otherwise have been necessary. Another result is that the Government ended up paying money to private hospitals for bed capacity, amounting to €115 million at the pinch points. I put it to the Taoiseach that, if we are to learn the lessons of the pandemic to date, two key changes need to be made. The first is that the public health service needs to be significantly expanded, with particular attention paid to bed capacity, ICU capacity and staffing levels. We also need a single-tier public health service. We need to nationalise private hospitals and integrate them into a fully public health system.

Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh

Healthcare capacity has to be included in the national risk assessment along with issues of public health. It is beyond question that, when a public health emergency hits, it is already too late. I commend those who work on the front line in that system. Prior to the outbreak of the pandemic, we had the longest waiting lists in the EU. We had a series of some of the longest and strictest lockdowns because we had so little spare capacity in the health system. Today, more than 800,000 people are on some form of waiting list. This includes 96,000 children. Last week, when the end of Covid restrictions was announced, six ambulances were lined up in front of Mayo University Hospital. Some of those patients had already waited five hours for an ambulance. We just do not have the capacity required. It is an enormous risk. I spoke to a woman last week who had been urgently referred to the breast clinic by her GP. Despite this, she was told she would have to wait three months. This also presents an enormous risk. Will the Taoiseach assure us that healthcare capacity will be front and centre in our risk assessment?

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett

I will mention the risk of people dying unnecessarily during the winter, as happened in this country even before the energy price hikes. Every winter, 1,500 to 2,000 people, most of whom are elderly and less well off, die as a result of the impact of winter, the cost of heating and so on. That situation will get exponentially worse in light of the current price hikes. I again ask whether the Taoiseach will use the powers available to him under the Consumer Protection Act 2007 to control the price of energy, including electricity and heat, and to expand the financial assistance available through the fuel allowance to cover more households. Of course, there is an international context to this matter but this country lining up with NATO in a conflict between it and Russia is not a very sensible strategy to address that wider international context.

Deputy Paul Murphy

It is very positive that the Omicron wave was less destructive than had been feared. The question for now is how not to waste the breathing space we have been afforded. We should use that space to make our society more Covid-resilient and pandemic-resilient rather than just forgetting about it all. The question for the Government is whether it is going to ensure that workers have the right to clean air in their workplaces. Will it proceed as quickly as possible to implement our Workplace Ventilation (Covid-19) Bill 2021, which has passed Second Stage, to ensure that everyone has the right to clean air? Will it provide needed HEPA filters to schools and ensure that every worker has the right to a high-quality, high-grade FFP2 mask or equivalent like those provided to Deputies and Senators? If we are to avoid more variants of concern, we must scrap patents on vaccines. We should support the People's Vaccine campaign to ensure that vaccines are distributed to the 40% of the world's population who still do not have a single dose.

The Taoiseach

I thank the Deputies for their questions. Deputy Tóibín raised the issue of cyberattacks. They are a clear risk to the country. Cybersecurity is vitally important to our economy and to wider society. The attack on our health system last year had a devastating impact on health services, particularly on front-line services with regard to access to scans and so on. It also had an impact on patient care for that period and on senior HSE staff who worked around the clock to try to deal with the issue. Additional funding has been provided. The national cybersecurity strategy sets out a framework and a range of measures for protecting the State from cyber threats through building up infrastructure and capacity in that area.

The NCSC is responsible for a range of measures to improve the resilience of critical infrastructure and public sector ICT. It also manages the State's incident response process. It works with the Defence Forces and An Garda Síochána. It is now working on a detailed risk assessment of critical infrastructure vulnerabilities in the State.

We are prioritising expanding our cybersecurity and resilience infrastructure and increasing resources in that regard. The Government has agreed a package of measures that will ensure the continued development and expansion of the National Cyber Security Centre, NCSC, including increasing its staff complement to 45 by the end of this year.

Regarding the point made by Deputy Kelly on territorial waters, the broader issue concerning the situation with Russia and Ukraine is a serious one. We appeal for a de-escalation of tensions in respect of the massing of thousands upon thousands of Russian troops on the Ukrainian border. There are fundamental principles at stake here as a country, including a rules-based international order, which is what Ireland is about. Deputy Boyd Barrett said we are about lining up with NATO. We are not. We are for a rules-based international order, first and foremost. That is Ireland's principle, and Russia should acknowledge that too, as well as the territorial integrity of states, democracy and peaceful co-operation. Ireland wants a diplomatic resolution not just to this situation but also to the illegal annexation of Crimea. That is the Irish position. We have updated our travel advice. We are recommending that citizens avoid non-essential travel to Ukraine.

Regarding the proposed Russian activities within our exclusive zone and territorial waters, legally and technically they are entitled to do that. This is not, however, a regular occurrence at all, despite what has been said. The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney, has spoken to the Russian Ambassador and made it very clear that the Government is very unhappy and does not welcome this development. The Minister attended a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council, FAC, yesterday, where Russia's continued aggression and threats against Ukraine was condemned. I like to think that is something on which the entire House could agree unanimously. Russia was called on to de-escalate, to abide by international law and to engage constructively in dialogue through the established international mechanisms.