The Russian ambassador to Ireland has said his country has offered to conduct a joint investigation into the HSE cyber attack.
He was speaking after hackers, known as Wizard Spider, launched a ransomware attack on the Health Service Executive last week.
The group are believed to be based in Russia, and the Russian embassy in Ireland has condemned the attack.
Officials have warned that it could be weeks before the health service gets back to normal.
The attack has impacted on a huge number of services, with thousands of patient appointments cancelled.
Ambassador Yury Filatov told Newstalk Breakfast there have been contacts between Dublin and Moscow.
"First all I understand that there have been some contacts, and the incident has been discussed.
"I don't have any way of judging who is behind this criminal attack; we have condemned it without any doubt.
"There is a lot of speculation whether the hackers [are] Russian-based or otherwise - we have offered to conduct a joint investigation to help with any information if we can".
He said Russia has experience in the area, as it is often hacked by others.
"We as a country, as many other countries, are targeted by hackers I would say continuously.
"For example, our foreign ministry is [targeted] on a daily basis more or less - so we have a real interest in promoting international cooperation in this area.
"And we are suggesting that we really do that, especially in this particular case it's better to do it jointly".
And he added that he did not know if the same group was behind hacking attempts within Russia itself.
"It might be, I can't really confirm that for sure, but these people are literally or figuratively [the] darkside of the internet.
"And this is a shadowy world; our law enforcement is really making a huge effort in trying to keep track and just to bring all the people to justice.
"The main point is to get our experts... to try to trace those responsible for the attack - we have to collaborate on this.
"We are hoping that if we do that, we can certainly make sure the thing which occurred with the Irish health system never is done again".
Speaking on Tuesday, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the Government was doing ‘everything it possibly can’ to restore services.
He also admitted there was 'every possibility' patient's private medical details could be leaked online - but insisted the country will not be paying any ransom.
"It is shocking that people’s lives have been disrupted to this degree by these criminals," Mr Martin said. "That is the first point.
"Secondly, we are going to do everything we possibly can to restore services for people in this situation – particularly the most urgent services people require.
"The HSE has been flat-out since the weekend working, first of all, to respond to the threat, but also to re-build and get services back."
