“What has happened here is that right across our HSE health care system, malware has been inserted across the network in multiple locations," he added.

"This is a very serious attack, we're taking it seriously, and we're taking all of the international advice that we can to make sure we get that right."

Minister Coveney said the cyber-attacks are “very serious, and I don’t think anyone should downplay that.” “The HSE have effectively set up a war room in Walworth street. They’re working very closely with the National Cyber Security Centre, they’re getting advised by the gardai, the defense forces, the Department of Justice, Department of Communications, and my department of defense are all involved," he continued. The Department of Health confirmed that The National Cyber Security Centre, along with the gardaí and the Defence Forces, is currently investigating the attacks. They said in a statement on Sunday: "The Department of Health can confirm that late last week it was subject to a ransomware attack similar to the attack on the HSE. Since Thursday we have been working to respond to this incident. "We continue to work closely with all relevant authorities, including the National Cyber Security Centre, An Garda Siochana, and the HSE. We continue to assess the impact across all our systems and our focus is on protecting our data." The Department is also working with Europol to investigate the attack which is believed to be criminal.