Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 9 June 2026
146. Deputy Seán Kyne asked the Minister for Defence to provide an update on the work undertaken on protecting Ireland's critical maritime infrastructure which is strategic objective number two in the National Maritime Security Strategy 2026 - 2030; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43662/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs Minister for Defence, I launched Ireland’s first National Maritime Security Strategy on 25 February. My vision for this strategy is that it will support the protection of a secure and sovereign Ireland, where our people and interests are protected, and where our European and international partners can rely on us to uphold the rule of law in the maritime domain. My focus is now on implementation of the strategy and the operationalisation of its accompanying action plan.
This first strategy focuses on risks and threats to Ireland’s national security and defence, including the protection of our critical maritime infrastructure, particularly critical undersea infrastructure. My reason for this focus on critical infrastructure in our maritime domain is because many major undersea cables land on our shores or transit through our EEZ carrying significant amounts of global internet traffic and financial data. In addition, our energy sector is heavily supported by subsea gas pipelines and electricity interconnectors. There are also plans advancing to develop significant offshore renewable facilities in our waters.
In April, I addressed the Valentia Island Subsea Cable Security and Resilience Symposium, which included representatives from industry, government, military and academia. Bringing together key stakeholders from diverse sectors and having the opportunity to talk directly to industry about these vital issues supports our own national security and resilience as well as the security and resilience of Europe as a whole.
I also want to highlight that I am currently developing urgent legislation to ensure that the Defence Forces have certain enforcement powers when operating at sea in light of growing maritime threats posed by the Shadow Fleet, in particular to our critical maritime infrastructure.
Given that the strategy represents a new, whole-of-government approach to enhancing maritime security, I would also like to highlight the new Subsea Communications Cables Industry Forum, which has been established by the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport, and which my Department is supporting. This forum will support structured coordination and collaboration between Government and key cable industry representatives. It will also help progress work to develop preparedness and response structures for subsea telecoms cables incidents which could cause significant disruption to Ireland’s international connectivity.
Outreach is also ongoing with the UK to support future cross-border exercises focused on incidents involving shared subsea cables and developing security protocols in the event of a cable security incident. Further international engagement is planned in this space.
The EU’s Common Information Sharing Environment (CISE) will also be a key enabler for sharing information to protect this infrastructure, including with respect to the Shadow Fleet. Our Defence Forces are currently developing a node to access CISE, which is scheduled to be operational by the end of 2026. The Defence Forces already have access to the MARSUR network which provides for information exchange between participating navies. These new information streams are in addition to new capability development plans acquiring new sonar and radar technology for the Defence Forces.
In the meantime, I do want to assure the Deputy that the Defence Forces routinely monitor all foreign vessels in our maritime domain with both Naval Service assets and Air Corps maritime patrol aircraft, as well as remote monitoring on a 24/7 basis from the Naval Operations Command Centre in Haulbowline.
