I funzionari sono stati avvertiti nel 2018 della spia russa “Cobalto”.

From the article:
Key government figures were alerted at least five years ago that a politician, codenamed Cobalt, had been recruited as an agent by ­Russian intelligence services.
At least one minister, senior civil servants and top security and defence officials were briefed after the ­Kremlin’s­ operation was first uncovered by garda and military intelligence in 2018.
Top-secret memos on the issue were also circulated to various branches of government on a “need to know” basis, but it is unclear how many ministers were informed.
Cobalt went on to gain access to sensitive information on aspects of government policy by befriending parliamentarians. More recently he discreetly approached ministers via messaging apps and social media, seeking private meetings on sensitive and divisive issues.Texts seen by The Sunday Times indicate he sought to pit cabinet colleagues against each other.
The disclosure of Cobalt’s existence has effectively collapsed the already strained relationship between Dublin and Moscow.
“Recruiting an Irish politician is a gift, because he can influence public debate, introduce bills, report to them about internal rumours at the government level,” said the Dossier Centre, an investigative project founded by the Russian opposition figure Mikhail Khodorkovsky.