Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 June 2023
71. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence his intentions with regard to international co-operation in the context of maritime security and protecting subsea cables; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28293/23]
View answerWhat are the Tánaiste’s intentions with regard to international co-operation in the context of maritime security and protecting subsea cables?
I thank the Deputy for raising the question. It is fair to say we have witnessed a fundamental change in our security environment in the last year with a renewed focus on maritime security and the protection of subsea cables. Protecting them on an ongoing basis is not a task that Ireland can shoulder alone. It requires international co-operation, shared responsibilities and mutual trust. About 97% of all Internet traffic is now subsea.
Ireland is a strong proponent of the important role the European Union can play in support of international peace and security and of the United Nations. It is essential, therefore, that Ireland remains fully engaged in all common security and defence policy processes and contributes fully to the development of the policy in order that we can influence its evolution. It is in this context we have been enhancing our engagement with the Permanent Structured Cooperation, PESCO, which we joined in 2017. While our level of engagement is still modest by EU standards, we are participating in four PESCO projects and have observer status on 19. Two of the projects in which we are full participants are in the maritime space and we are observers on a further two maritime-related projects.
On 23 May 2023, I attended the EU Foreign Affairs Council in defence Ministers configuration, where we adopted a fifth wave of collaborative projects within the PESCO framework. Of particular relevance is the new critical seabed infrastructure protection project, which aims at increasing the European Union's operational efficiency in the protection of critical maritime infrastructure by making best use of current, and the development of future, underwater assets. Together with the Defence Forces, my Department is actively examining this project with a view to moving to observer status. Under the programme for Government, full participation in PESCO projects requires Government and Dáil approval.
In terms of improving our interoperability across all three domains, namely, land, sea and air, our membership of NATO’s Partnership for Peace has been invaluable. We have been members since 1999. Ireland is in the process of renewing its partnership through the individually tailored partnership programme mechanism. This framework presents an opportunity to enhance our co-operation in relevant areas of choice, including such areas as improved maritime situational awareness.
The upcoming consultative forum on international security policy, which is being jointly hosted by the Department of Defence and the Department of Foreign Affairs, will provide an opportunity to have honest and open debate to examine whether our current policy approach remains fit for purpose. An important part of the forum's discussions will cover the current threat environment that Ireland faces, including in relation to threats to critical infrastructure, including subsea infrastructure.
I am registered for that first event in University College Cork on Thursday and am looking forward to taking part in that debate. Last month, the Tánaiste stated isolationism was no longer an option for Ireland and the country must co-operate with other European countries in areas such as cybersecurity, maritime security and protecting subsea cables, which the Tánaiste just mentioned. The statistic he cited of 97% of Internet cabling being subsea is particularly eye-opening.
The Tánaiste said on RTÉ's "Six One News" that we can never again be on our own. He said isolationism is not an option and that we must co-operate and co-ordinate on issues such as cybersecurity, maritime security and the protection of subsea cables that are vital to our economic wellbeing. Could he outline how he envisages such defence co-operation with other European countries developing further?
I was very much reflecting on this. The cybersecurity attack on the HSE in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic was a very serious one that had a very severe impact on our health service and caused enormous strain and stress among senior personnel and those at the clinical front line who do scanning. It was interesting that the Polish Government contacted us immediately, as did the UK Government. Poland had a similar experience of the ransomware group Conti, which was deemed to be responsible for the attack, and the UK was available to assist us. The head of the National Cyber Security Centre in Ireland said when I met representatives of the group that no country deals with cybersecurity on its own. It is about the sharing of knowledge and expertise and collaborating on the experiences of those who were attacked before. It is by collaborating in putting together all the information that we stand the best chance of taking on state actors who may be doing cyberattacks, ransomware groups or hacktivists.
I have no doubt that the spirit of EU membership would further support what the Tánaiste is saying. However, there is also no doubt but that we cannot ignore the vulnerabilities posed to energy and communications infrastructure across Europe, most especially in the waters of the North Atlantic close to our own shores. What estimate does the Tánaiste have for the extent to which undersea fibre-optic cables now channel the world's global communications and financial transactions? Given the extent of the maritime domain alone and Ireland's exclusive economic zone, covering hundreds of thousands of square kilometres, is it legitimate to believe the way to address our vulnerabilities is to build autonomous capabilities without any mention of our current partnerships and their future potential?
We have to develop our own capabilities; however, with respect to subsea cables, it is not all about ships and assets. Much of this will involve mathematics, as a person recently said to me. Much expertise will be required. It also means working with semi-State bodies and private companies. I said 97% of all Internet traffic is subsea traffic. An enormous number of financial transactions use cables under the seabed. While having a sufficiency of physical assets is important, the idea that ships will be fortuitously hanging around when someone intends to go at a cable is a bit fanciful. They can be a deterrent but we have to build up sophisticated modelling and a knowledge base, working with the relevant companies. There is considerable expertise required in maritime law, which also applies. This is very complex stuff and we will not be able to deal with it on our own.
