Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is very important at this juncture, when Russia and its dictator, in particular, are behaving like a wounded, cornered animal, and are capable of doing things that would not have been considered as being on the agenda only a relatively short time ago, that there needs to be a heightened sense of concern regarding infrastructure that is now vulnerable. I see that particular submarine cable, and those cables we have, as being the crocodile's belly in attacking Ireland, Europe and those that Russia sees as enemies. This is an area that needs to be prioritised. There is scope for enhanced international co-operation to provide the type of security we cannot provide to protect that infrastructure because it is critically important. It is an area where, as we have seen in the Baltic Sea, a relatively small effort can cause a huge amount of disruption and damage. Should something happen to the particular infrastructure off our coastline, it would have an enormous impact on Europe.

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