The Government is to lobby intensively for a new European Union agency to be based in the Republic. The agency will fight cyber crime and protect computer systems.

The agency, proposed last week by the European Commission, will be called the European Network and Information Security Agency. It is being formed to provide information and resources to states to protect their computer networks from the threat of hackers and viruses.

The Department of Communications has begun an initial review of the project and is considering the Digital Hub in Dublin as a possible location for the agency.

Officials at the Department of Justice have also consulted the Commission on the broader issue of cyber crime that will be tackled by the new body.

The Commission will probably make a final decision on where to place the new agency later this year. An outline plan prepared by the Commission shows the agency should become operational by January 2004 and will function for at least five years.

It will employ dozens of staff and bring considerable technology kudos to any location that is chosen as its base.

A spokesman for the Department of Communications confirmed last night the Government would like to bring the proposed agency to the Republic.

"We are aware of it and from our perspective Ireland is very interested in hosting this agency... Because we have a lot of internet data centres and many key skills in the security technology area we would be a logical location for the body," he said.

The Commission has outlined that the location of the agency should be easily accessible in terms of communications, especially electronic communication facilities. It should have effective and fast transport connections, and enable the agency to work closely with those institutional services that deal with network and information society issues.

The base for the agency must also be cost-effective, enable the agency to start its work immediately and be capable of providing the necessary infrastructure and personnel for the agency, says the outline Commission document.

The new agency is being set up in response to the growing risks posed by cyber crime and the threat of electronic attacks by so called "cyber-terrorists."

It will aim to co-ordinate all 15 member-states' responses to these issues and provide assistance to states on any matters regarding cyber crime.

It is the latest in a series of European measures to co-ordinate information security policy and protect computer networks from attack.

Mr Philip Nolan, a solicitor specialising in technology law at Mason Hayes & Curran, said yesterday a more co-ordinated pan-European approach towards such problems must be welcomed.