Sinn Féin TD and member of the Public Accounts Committee, Imelda Munster, today levelled the charge that ‘the HSE were lax in cybersecurity’ at is CEO Paul Reid.

The May 14th cyber attack paralysed IT systems across the health service and Department of Health.

Teachta Munster said:

“Today the CEO of the HSE acknowledged that other national health services would have appropriate monitoring on a 24/7 basis, but that the HSE did not.

“For some time prior to the attack, the Public Accounts Committee had been challenging the HSE on their inability to report on procurement compliance as a result of disjointed and outdated financial and procurement information systems.

“We have always known that the HSE was a blackhole when it came to procurement, and that has been part of the problem with regard to the various blunders that have arisen in the last 18 months.

“The idea that their IT infrastructure was not monitored on a 24/7 basis is absolutely farcical.

“This is akin to the Gardaí or Navy only operating during business hours – it sends an incredibly strong message to those criminals who would launch such an attack that Ireland is a soft target.

“This raises questions as to whether other government departments and agencies are equally vulnerable, if there is appropriate guidance available on this and, if so, was this guidance breached.”