Government scrambles to respond to HSE cyberattack crisis

Good morning.

Four days after the cyberattack on the HSE’s computer systems, and the Government is scrambling to marshall its response to the crisis that has paralysed large parts of the health service.

The Cabinet will receive a briefing on the issue when it meets this morning, though some Ministers were privately critical of the pace of the response and thought they might have been brought up to speed with events rather sooner.

The party leaders, senior Ministers and their officials met yesterday to discuss the damage to the HSE’s infrastructure and the measures being taken to restore its systems and restart the affected treatments.

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Within Government, there is a sort of “what’s next?” shrugging from people who would hardly be surprised at this stage if Ireland was struck by a meteorite. There could hardly be a better illustration of the tendency of politics to throw the best laid plans of government into disarray through what Harold MacMillan called “events, dear boys, events”.

For now, the tone surrounding discussion of the mega-hack has been relatively harmless to the Government. People can hardly blame the Coalition for the attack.

But there is likely to be increasing focus on the pace of the response, and the need to get services up and running as the week goes on, as well as uncomfortable questions about how well prepared the State was for such an attack. We are likely to hear some of those questions asked this afternoon when the Dáil resumes at the Convention Centre. The story will continue to dominate politics for the day.

Our lead story is here, and further reports are here and here.

Yesterday, senior HSE staff seemed to be preparing the public for a protracted period in which services are disrupted. If so, the issue may well become more politically serious, not less.

Byelection: FG candidate faces housing questions

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar signalled that the Dublin Bay South byelection will take place in July – likely early in the month, is the word in the party. Mr Varadkar introduced party candidate Cllr James Geoghegan in the virtual press conference and admitted that he would “prefer a poll in the summer”.

So say all of us. Our report is here.

The candidate’s background is one of privilege and public service – judge of the Supreme Court seems to be the majority occupation within the family – and he is made for the traditional Fine Gael voters of this most Fine Gael constituency to the extent that he could nearly have been designed by a committee of Blueshirts.

But this being a byelection – the quota is 50 per cent of the vote, not 20 per cent – he will have to reach out beyond that pool of voters for transfers.

Mr Geoghegan was asked by reporters if he had experienced the housing crisis at first hand. He parried the question, insisting that he encountered the housing crisis in his work as a public representative.

He declined to be drawn on whether he had received support from the “bank of mum and dad” when he and his wife bought their home. It’s unlikely to be the last time the candidate is asked questions about his background.

With Labour confirming the nomination of Ivana Bacik last night, and the closing date for nominations in Fianna Fáil this week, this contest is pretty much on.

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Playbook

The Cabinet meets this morning for what sources say will be a busy meeting, though it was reported last night that a memo on winding down mandatory hotel quarantine was withdrawn at the last minute.

The old double act of Bertie Ahern and Tony Blair is doing an encore at the Institute of International and European Affairs (which hosted the Taoiseach yesterday) for a discussion on the current state of Anglo-Irish relations, and related matters. Not as good as they were, the lads may conclude.

The Dáil sits at 2pm in the Convention Centre and after Leaders’ Questions, the order of business and questions to the Taoiseach, there are statements on the Ballymurphy massacre.

There’s a Sinn Féin motion on affordable housing in the evening.

There’s a heavy schedule of committee meetings. Officials will answer questions about the HSE hacking and the response to it at the communications committee this morning, though that is scheduled to be in private.

The Good Friday Agreement committee will hear from the Shared Island unit in the Taoiseach’s department at 9.30am. The climate action committee will hold a hearing on achieving the 2030 targets with several witnesses, while the foreign affairs committee will discuss the situation in Palestine with NGOs and the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Minister for Children Roderic O’Gorman is doing the pre-legislative scrutiny of the Tuam exhumation legislation, while the legal eagles are in at the justice committee to discuss judicial appointments. Teachers’ unions are in to talk about school bullying at the education committee. Sure, not long until the holidays now.

The full schedule for the day in the two houses and the committees is here.