Dr. Margaret Stanley:

Good morning. I thank the Chair and members for inviting me to provide the committee with an update on the Department of Defence’s work to prepare the national maritime security strategy. I am accompanied by my colleagues Alan Neary and Eoghan Campion. Last December, I was assigned the responsibility of setting up the new maritime security unit in the Department of Defence. Prior to that, I headed up the office of emergency planning, which supports cross-government co-ordination during national emergencies. The decision by the then Tánaiste and Minister for Defence that the responsibility for co-ordinating maritime security nationally and developing a strategy would fall to my Department represented the first time such responsibility had been assigned in the history of the State. This followed last year’s defence policy review, which identified maritime security as a key priority because of the assessed threat level, our geographic position and our responsibility and commitment to support the security and defence of Europe.

In addition, our most recent national risk assessment, which the Department of Defence co-ordinates on a whole-of-government basis, identified damage to undersea infrastructure as one of the 22 key risks for the country.

As an island nation, we are reliant on critical maritime infrastructure. Undersea cables in our waters carry a significant proportion of transatlantic Internet traffic and financial data, while approximately 75% of our natural gas supply is imported via subsea pipelines. We also have electricity interconnectors connecting us to neighbouring countries, and there are plans advancing to develop significant offshore renewable facilities in our waters. This infrastructure is vulnerable to disruption, whether from state-sponsored hybrid attacks, cyber threats or accidental damage. The increasingly volatile geopolitical situation, illustrated by incidents occurring in the Baltic Sea, demonstrates the vulnerability of this infrastructure to threats.

As a result of all of this, the key first task my unit is focusing on is preparing the new national maritime security strategy. An important step we took in support of this strategy was the public consultation we carried out over the summer. Our purpose was to encourage open, constructive dialogue and to build consensus on the risks, challenges and opportunities facing Ireland’s maritime domain. This public consultation saw significant engagement from a wide range of interested parties, including responses from government, academia, industry and members of the public.

The submissions received indicate that there is strong support for the strategy’s development. There is also a very clear understanding of Ireland's most urgent maritime security challenges, particularly the growing threats to critical undersea infrastructure, with the protection of this infrastructure emerging as the foremost concern, reflecting its vital role in Ireland’s economy and security. We also detected significant support for international co-operation to improve maritime security.

The views of industry received as part of the consultation, particularly the views of those who own and operate critical maritime infrastructure, heavily mirrored the views of the general public. There is clear willingness on the part of industry to engage, co-operate and co-ordinate with the Government to support increased maritime security.

Analysis of the submissions is ongoing and the input gathered will serve as a critical foundation for shaping a robust and forward-looking strategy to ensure Ireland is well prepared to meet current and future challenges in our maritime domain. Another step taken by the Tánaiste to support the strategy’s development was his approval for Defence Forces participation in the EU’s common information-sharing environment. This initiative will support better monitoring and surveillance of growing threats at sea and will aid their decision-making during complex maritime operational scenarios.

In another strand of work, we have undertaken extensive outreach to identify and explore opportunities to co-operate with neighbouring countries, the EU and international institutions, including our neighbours in the north Atlantic. Further international engagement is ongoing and more meetings are planned between now and the delivery of the strategy. This significant international engagement has allowed us to access examples of best practice and to learn from the extensive experience in monitoring and protecting critical maritime infrastructure that many of our neighbours have developed.

From all of these various strands of work, our overall view is that we need to focus this first strategy on the most urgent risks and threats we face in the national security and defence space, with a particular focus on enhancing maritime-domain awareness and on ensuring the protection of critical maritime infrastructure, especially critical undersea infrastructure.

I thank the committee members for their time and attention. Before concluding, I have to point out that while my team and I have made significant progress to date in collating all the information from the various strands of our work, including information from our consultation process, our own research and our international engagements, what we have as a strategy at the moment is very much in draft form. At this stage, I cannot go into the details of what will form the recommendations for implementation as part of the strategy. That will be presented to the Tánaiste for his consideration and approval by the end of the year. I do, however, welcome the opportunity presented by today’s discussions to get the committee’s perspective on what I believe will aid us in doing this important work.