Neil McDonnell: Stress-test of finances a must for the future

Ireland has to plan around risks ranging from our dependence on FDI and threats to energy security to the risk of stagflation 

Ireland's National Risk Assessment had warned of the peril of cybercrime in 2014 but the country did essentially nothing, leaving it unprepared for the HSE attack in May 2021.  iStock

The collective Irish attitude to risk assessment is peculiar. We are an optimistic bunch of people. If something hasn’t happened to us before, we perceive little risk of it happening to us in the future; we plan (or don’t plan) accordingly.

Irish people considered “cyberattack” in the same category as Hollywood blockbusters until the HSE’s IT systems were taken down in May 2021 by a ransomware attack. We have yet to fully account for the financial and health costs of this attack.