Galway senator Gerard Craughwell has called for the National Cyber Security Centre to immediately carry out a full cyber audit of all government departments following comments made by Secretary General Robert Watt.
The Secretary General told the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance that a note about the research policy had been drawn up for Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly, who was out of the country.
However, it never made it to Minister Donnelly because his laptop had been hacked.
The statement at the committee prompted Senator Craughwell to write a letter to the commissioner.
In a statement to colleagues, Senator Craughwell said: “I believe that in light of the cyber-attacks on the HSE, MTU etc. this is a most serious admission from the most senior official in the Department of Health.
“I have asked the Garda Commissioner to carry out a full investigation into this security breach.”
He concluded his message by requesting the Government to ask the National Cyber Security Centre to immediately carry out a full cyber audit of all government departments as a matter of urgency.
