Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The issue of primary radar has been under discussion since 2015. When I was last in this portfolio and when Deputy Kehoe was Minister for Defence we were both involved in that discussion. Plans have been put in place but it is primarily a resourcing issue. We have a lot of capacity gaps such as long-range strategic lift capacity and the need to invest more in cyber protection and primary radar. There are a range of other capacity resource issues.

That is what the commission was put in place to address. We have recommendations now so it is up to the Government and me to respond to that.

On the primary role of the Defence Forces on cybersecurity, the NCSC is primarily the responsibility of the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications and not the Department of Defence. Our primary responsibility is to make sure that our defensive and military systems are protected from cyberattack and we review that regularly.

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