Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Given the number of questions I have been asked, I could keep going until 2.10 p.m. but, out of respect for Deputy Clarke, I will not do that I assure her. We must also consider Vote 35, but I think it is more straightforward. There are not anything like the same number of complications, as were in previous years, regarding shortages of fund for the pensions Vote. I think it is more straightforward.

Deputy Brady asked me about the ICTU issue. As he knows, within the Defence Forces organisations, there are differences of opinion on this. RACO's and PDFORRA's views on being formally associated with ICTU in the context of public sector pay negotiations is a source of ongoing discussion and debate. As I have said, I have an open mind on this. On balance, my view on this is that the setting up of a separate and independent pay review body for the Defence Forces makes sense, because a career in the Defence Forces is unique within the public service in terms of limitations on political lobbying and industrial action, and so on. The kind of service people commit to and the oath they take puts them in a slightly different category. We must take account of that in the context of the complexity of pay and allowances, and a take home package that is attractive enough for people to commit to a career with the Defence Forces. Whether or not associate membership of ICTU in someway compromises that, or compromises ICTU, is a source of ongoing discussion and debate. I will happily continue to talk to PDFORRA about this. I know it is pursuing a legal course of action on this issue.

On the pay and allowances issue, there is an outstanding discussion which is continuing with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform regarding the technical pay issue. Members who know about pay and allowances and commitments that have been made will know that there is an outstanding technical pay issue. We are trying to make progress on that. It has taken a long time but we continue to try to make progress on that with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.

Deputies Berry and Brady have talked about the Naval Service and the number of patrol-duty hours. Let us be honest, we have a problem in the Naval Service with recruitment and retention. That has been the case for a number of years. We must fix it, and we are going to fix it. We are putting together a very ambitious plan to change those numbers. Ships have been tied up this year that would otherwise have gone to sea. Covid has added to that because we had to prioritise ships to set up testing facilities on quaysides in places like Cork and Dublin. That was a higher priority than fisheries protection. We made that call and that is what happens in the middle of a pandemic. That is why, when one looks at the patrol-duty hours, they are lower than they otherwise would have been because of both those reasons. Are we still doing a good job on fisheries protection? I think we are doing a pretty good job on fisheries protection. We have moved away from the memorandum of understanding with the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority, which is the body that is answerable to the European Commission in terms of our sea-fisheries protection, the enforcement of the rules, and so on. We have moved away from a set number of hours that are committed annually to a risk and outcomes-based approach. That has given more flexibility of hours.

That does not mean it should be used as an excuse to drive down hours year after year, by describing that as a shift to a risk-based approach. We can do a lot in Air Corps surveillance, and a lot more data are available now for fishing vessels, which we can monitor in a much more accurate way than ten years ago. Anyone who visits the Naval Service and looks at the screens will see all the fishing boats in Irish waters under the Common Fisheries Policy. We have applied a risk-based approach, reflecting some of the challenges we have around sea-going capacity in our Naval Service fleet. We hope to get more ships to sea. To do that we are looking at the decommissioning of some vessels and the potential acquisition of vessels that could be crewed by a smaller number of crew, which could do as good if not a better job in terms of more modern vessels. These vessels are also much more efficient from a fuel perspective, which is a by-product benefit.

I do not shy away from the problems we have with the Naval Service numbers. We have great people in the Naval Service. It is a super career. I had very seriously thought of joining the Naval Service when I was leaving school but I did not do it for a whole series of reasons. We have an exciting plan for investment in new equipment and new ships. We are investing heavily in Haulbowline naval base, as we speak. The State has spent more than €30 million putting in the new People's Park as part of that, of which the Department of Defence has now taken ownership from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. The workplace on Haulbowline Island is improving all the time, in terms of quality of life and facilities, and will continue to improve through this year. We have a big capital expenditure programme there. I am on the case with regard to the problems in the Naval Service. I do not sugar coat the problem that is there. We are well below where we should be in numbers, but I hope to be able to turn that around in the next few years.

Everybody in the country is talking about cybersecurity at the moment because of what has happened with the HSE, the Department of Health and the attacks on the systems. If we do not manage it really well it will result in loss of life and huge inconvenience for patients. Hospitals are trying to manage a pandemic as well as significant increase in demand for healthcare over the last months. It is hugely demanding and now they are faced with this. We have a lot of good expertise in the Defence Forces. Cybersecurity is an issue with very significant implications. The response to cyber threats is a whole-of-government challenge, with the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications taking the lead role, through the National Cyber Security Centre, NCSC, and with inputs from An Garda Síochána and the Defence Forces. The primary role of the Defence Forces in cybersecurity relates to the defence and security of its own networks and systems, which I understand are well protected. During the current situation the Defence Forces have provided IT facilities for contact tracing, as requested by the HSE. I confirm that my Department has received briefings from NCSC on these incidents. As the situation is evolving and investigations are ongoing I will not make further comment at this time, because it is not appropriate to do so.

Officials from my Department and members of the Defence Forces are actively participating in the implementation of the national cybersecurity strategy. Officials from my Department are members of the steering group developing the public sector cybersecurity baseline standard. My officials and members of the Defence Forces are also actively involved in the preparation of a national cyber risk assessment, which will support the development of resilience in Ireland's national infrastructure. My Department has recently availed of Build to Share management desktop services.