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

I am absolutely committed to that. We have a very large sea area at surface level and below, which, as the Deputy said, is more than ten times the size of our land surface. I suspect we are going to build offshore infrastructure worth tens if not hundreds of billions of euro not only to power Ireland but also to power other countries in Europe in the future. We are about to embark on an enormous offshore energy build programme, which, of course, will be an infrastructure we have to ensure is secure and protected in the context of our sovereignty. There is going to be an increasing role for our Naval Service and Air Corps in that regard. There will also, to a certain extent, be a role for the Army. That means a consistent capital programme to invest in new equipment, new technology and more people, which, in turn, means a lot more money. We must get our heads around the fact that every year for the next decade we need to be looking at the kind of increases in defence budget that we have seen this year, or more again. An extra €100 million or more every year is more than justified and required to build up the kind of capacity that the commission has been clear is justified and needed.

See this speech in context