Earlier this week, the Minister for Higher Education, Simon Harris announced that a new emphasis would be placed on apprenticeship programmes in Ireland. The aim, he says, is to produce a more skilled work force that can deal with 21st century developments.
One particular area that has opened up to skilled personnel is cybersecurity and Cavan Monaghan Fianna Fáil TD, Deputy Brendan Smith has spoken to the Minister in the Dáil about the matter. He says the island of Ireland needs trained personnel and appropriate infrastructure to protect IT systems and national security.
Deputy Smith pointed to how failures in cybersecurity lead to massive disruption in critical infrastructure, and highlights - all the more - societal reliance on digital technology. "We're all aware in this country of the major attack on the HSE, our hospitals and on the Munster Technological University (MTU).
"But when we think about cybersecurity, too often we think about international rogue criminals, individuals and groups working together. Yet on an every day basis society is being impacted adversely by cybersecurity attacks," he added.
