Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 9 to 12, inclusive, together.

The National Security Committee is chaired by the Secretary General to the Government and it comprises representatives at the highest level from the Departments of Justice, Defence, Foreign Affairs, the Environment, Climate and Communications and from An Garda Síochána and the Defence Forces. The secretariat to the Committee is provided by the National Security Analysis Centre in my Department.

The committee is concerned with ensuring that the Government and I are advised of high-level security issues and the responses to them, but it is not concerned with operational security matters.

As Taoiseach, I am briefed regularly by the Garda Commissioner and by relevant officials on the national and international security situation and on any individual incidents that may occur. The relevant Ministers also brief the Government on security issues within their remit as the need arises. There are also special arrangements in place to deal with particular circumstances that may arise, such as the recent cyber attack on the HSE’s IT systems.

Having regard to the confidential nature of the work of the committee, it is the long-standing practice not to disclose information about individual meetings. I can tell Deputies, however, that the committee generally meets a number of times a year and as required, and that it will continue to do so.

The committee’s focus is on the main threats to the State’s security and it has also addressed aspects of the State’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In addition to its meetings, the members of the committee liaise on an ongoing basis to monitor developments that might have national security implications, in particular in the international arena.

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