2026-07-16

122. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Defence the position regarding any formal agreements in place with any other EU country and the UK to ensure that there are sufficient defence and security mechanisms in place during Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52705/26]

As Ireland holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, can the Minister outline what formal defence and security arrangements are currently in place with EU member states and the UK to ensure the appropriate security resilience and defence mechanisms are available throughout the Presidency?

As the Deputy knows, Ireland's Presidency of the Council of the European Union began on 1 July. It is a major national undertaking for many different reasons. In preparation for the Presidency, including in relation to security, there has been significant and intense work for some time across Government. An Garda Síochána, under the auspices of the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, has primary responsibility for security for the Presidency. The Deputy may also be aware that An Garda Síochána has established a dedicated European Union Presidency co-ordination office to oversee all aspects of operational planning, logistics and inter-agency engagement because it is not just the Garda leading on this but it is obviously working very closely with a number of different bodies. Among the roles assigned to the Defence Forces by Government is the provision of aid of the civil power which, in practice, means to assist An Garda Síochána when requested to do so. On each occasion that the support of the Defence Forces is required, An Garda Síochána requests their assistance and accordingly any security assessments and consequent decisions to seek support from the Defence Forces in terms of security provision are a matter for An Garda Síochána in the first instance and then they work closely together. The Deputy will appreciate that I cannot comment on specific security arrangements that may be put in place and the Defence Forces cannot comment on any specific arrangements due to operational security. I can confirm, however, that the Defence Forces has stood up a joint task force to co-ordinate any Defence Forces supports to operations conducted during the EU Presidency period. The Defence Forces have an excellent working relationship with An Garda Síochána and will continue to liaise with it in order to ensure the best supports that can be provided are provided when needed. Separately, the Department of Defence maintains a number of bilateral and multilateral defence co-operation arrangements with partner countries, including memorandums of understanding with the United Kingdom and France. These arrangements provide frameworks for developing and furthering bilateral co-operation across a range of areas which include joint procurement, maritime security and cyber security. The maritime security strategy, launched earlier this year, particularly looks at how we can work more closely together. This is really where the Defence Forces' role comes to the fore in the maritime space where we need to make sure we have a complete picture on land and below sea as to what exactly is happening.

I agree that the maritime security strategy is a great document. One of the lessons of recent years is that threats to national security no longer come solely in conventional military forms. We have seen increasing concerns around cyberattacks, disinformation, threats to subsea cables, as referenced, attacks on critical infrastructure and vulnerabilities in our energy and communication networks. The Presidency places Ireland at the centre of European decision-making and naturally raises our international profile. Against that backdrop, is the Minister satisfied the arrangements currently in place with our European partners and the UK are sufficient to ensure sufficient deterrence, situational awareness and resilience? Furthermore, has the experience of holding the Presidency highlighted any capability gaps that may require deeper co-operation in areas such as maritime security, cyber defence or intelligence sharing?

As the Deputy rightly said, over the past number of years, we have seen changing types of threats or challenges that we had not faced previously. Maritime security is to the fore in that regard. As a country, our maritime domain is seven times the size of our landmass. It is really important that where we have such a large number of critical subsea cables, energy infrastructure, and gas infrastructure quite literally on our seabed, we have the equipment to identify where there are risks and where there are threats and if issues emerge, how we can respond to them. That is where the Deputy will see a huge amount of our focus lie during our Presidency. The strategy sets out how we will ensure there is a greater situational awareness of what is happening in our maritime domain. That requires investing in our capability - in our own ships, helicopters and technology and equipment - to be able to identify what is happening above and below the sea. It is about making sure we strengthen our partnerships. Of course, we will be looking to our neighbours in that regard, namely, the UK and France, but beyond that as well. There is a number of different programmes, the Joint Expeditionary Force, JEF, being one of them, which is a programme looking at maritime security for a lot of the north Atlantic countries.

Thank you, Minister.

That is something we said we are very interested in joining.

I call Deputy Callaghan.

All of this helps to build that sense of security but also helps us share our experience and mitigate some of the risks now coming to the fore.

Quite rightly, as the Minister pointed out, the Presidency has highlighted both the importance of international co-operation and the reality that Ireland cannot currently provide every aspect of its own defence and security requirements. However, let us be fair about that. There is probably no European country that can completely defend itself alone against every conceivable major threat. We are not an outlier in that regard and that is really important to note. Most European states rely on alliances for collective defence. As we look towards the next decade, does the Minister foresee a greater resilience on that structured partnership with the EU member states and with the UK in areas such as airspace security, maritime surveillance, cyber defence and critical infrastructure protection? While the Minister has outlined some specific capability gaps there in terms of increasing the number of ships and helicopters, technology, etc., does she believe that will help us become less dependent on others and more resilient in our own right? Does the Minister have a timeline for when those capability gaps can be closed?

When we talk about our security and our defence, we are talking about keeping people safe. We are also talking about protecting critical infrastructure, which could be subsea cables, the HSE and our national infrastructure, and it is then about working together to be able to respond to those threats as they emerge. That will require us working closely with other countries. That is already happening. If we even look at NATO, we are in part of 12 Partnerships for Peace, which focus on maritime security, focus on training and focus on cyber security. So, we have a lot to contribute and a lot we can do there. When it comes to certain types of technology and certain types of equipment, there is a lot Irish companies are doing and small and medium sizes are investing in. This is something I am trying to highlight to other countries because, while we might be small and have a smaller army, we do have a lot to contribute to those spaces as well. During our Presidency, but in particular when I came into the Department, we are bringing forward our capabilities in radar. This has come to the fore of our capital plan so we have a complete radar picture. The intention is that will be in place by 2028. That is about making sure we can see completely what is happening in our skies, on land and at sea as well. Part of that is a sonar programme that is already out to tender and is being developed. So there are a lot of capabilities we are progressing but the Deputy is right that no country can respond to threats on its own. That is why it is really important we are working closely with our nearest neighbours and also with our colleagues in the EU and beyond.

I ask the Minister to keep an eye on the time.

I am sorry.

I am trying to get in as many questions as I can. I do not want to be setting a bad example by allowing people to go over their time slots. That is why I had to ring the bell. I thought the Minister was completely ignoring me.

Apologies.