Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 29 April 2025
337. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence the specific actions that have been taken over the past five years to protect undersea cables in the Irish seas from attack by negative actors or countries; and if he will provide list of those actions. [18659/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Deputy will appreciate that, for operational and security it is not appropriate to comment on specific security actions. The following highlight the Government's commitment to enhancing the protection of undersea cables through broader security initiatives:
Earlier this month, I approved the Defence Forces’ participation in the Common Information Sharing Environment (CISE), an EU initiative which enables structured and secure information-sharing among EU maritime authorities, both civil and military, allowing for more effective operations at sea amid new and evolving maritime threats.
Ireland is also currently observing on the PESCO project on Critical Seabed Infrastructure Protection, which aims to increase the EU’s operational efficiency in the protection of critical maritime infrastructure protection. Participation in this project is one means of allowing Ireland to address and mitigate risks posed to subsea architecture somewhat, as the Project will facilitate strengthening capabilities with regard to protecting critical undersea infrastructure, thereby increasing the security and resilience of this infrastructure. Government and Dáil approval has been granted for Ireland to join this PESCO Project. The process of requesting participant status has now commenced.
My Department has worked with the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications and energy operators to stress test critical infrastructure in the energy sector in Ireland against man-made threats. The results of these tests have been shared with the European Commission, as part of a cross-EU process.
Officials in my Department have commenced work to prepare Irelands first National Maritime Security Strategy. It is being prepared in cooperation with national and international stakeholders, and with the private sector. It will also take into account recent geopolitical developments, which have demonstrated the importance of the protection of critical undersea infrastructure. It is clear that protecting this infrastructure requires both collaboration within a State, together with collaboration between States to have a full understanding of what is occurring in the maritime space.
