Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 11 June 2026
140. Deputy Naoise Ó Muirí asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment if he will outline the importance of protecting our energy infrastructure, as defined in the National Strategy on the Resilience of Critical Entities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33262/26]
View answerA resilient society is essential for our national security, as well as our economic and social well-being. This resilience relies on the continuous availability of a wide range of essential services including the energy that lights and heats our homes. Certain entities that provide these services are vital to the functioning of our society and are therefore classified as critical. Ensuring that Critical Entities in the energy sector can provide more resilient essential services will support our overall national resilience.
On 19 March 2026 the Department of Defence published the National Strategy on the Resilience of Critical Entities. This strategy outlines Ireland's commitment to ensuring that operators of essential services across 11 key sectors, including Energy are better prepared to resist, respond to, and recover from disruptive events.
This Strategy provides guidance to the operators of our essential services on how to develop a resilience pathway and shows what good resilience practice should look like.
The strategy is available on: www.gov.ie/en/office-of-emergency-planning/organisation-information/critical-entities-resilience-cer-regulations/#the-national-strategy-for-the-resilience-of-critical-entities.
The Commission for the Regulation of Utilities (CRU) have been designated as the Competent Authority for the energy sector under the National Strategy. My Department is supporting CRU to meet the requirements of the regulations including identifying essential services of the state.
