Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 15 May 2024
18. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence the measures being taken to ensure the protection of submarine communication cables in Irish waters; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22107/24]
View answerAs Minister for Defence, I chair the Government Task Force on Emergency Planning (GTF) supported by the Office of Emergency Planning (OEP) in my Department. A subgroup of the GTF produced the first guideline document on critical infrastructure resilience in February 2019. This document was subsequently revised and updated in July 2021.
While the primary responsibility for safeguarding critical infrastructure rests with its owner or operator, the guideline document provides the methodology for operators of essential services to follow to enhance their resilience. It also outlines that it is the responsibility of each government department to foster links and work closely with the semi-state and private sector operators of critical infrastructure, in their respective policy areas, to enhance the protection of critical infrastructure from a wide variety of threats.
The Office of Emergency Planning (OEP) in my Department is working to transpose the new Critical Entities Resilience Directive. In advance of the enactment of this Directive and because of the increased threat to critical infrastructure, the Department of Defence 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.
Following the attacks on Nordstreams 1 and 2 in October 2022, my colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan, sought support from my Department for additional measures that could be put in place to ensure that critical offshore infrastructure, including data cables, was protected. As a result of this, enhanced patrolling of the Irish Sea in the vicinity of priority offshore infrastructure is taking place by a mixture of air and naval platforms and the Irish Naval Service Fisheries Monitoring Centre in Haulbowline continues to remotely monitor vessels in the EEZ on a 24/7 basis. My priority as Minister for Defence is to ensure that the operational capacity of the Army, Air Corps and Naval Service is maintained and developed. This is to enable the Defence Forces to carry out the roles assigned by the Government. A great deal of work is under way to ensure that we have the required capabilities, with equipment projects under way.
