Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

What are the Taoiseach's views regarding ongoing reports of Russian ships operating off Ireland's west coast, including in our exclusive economic zone? Only last week, four Russian navy and merchant ships were observed close to undersea cable sites. Clearly this must be seen as a threat to the flow of global digital communications in particular. We are now all aware of the threats posed by Putin and the role of hybrid warfare. As I understand it, our critical infrastructure includes natural gas subsea interconnectors, an electric subsea interconnector, and subsea cables that make up our telecommunications infrastructure, many of which link Europe and the United States of America.

What are our Defence Forces, in particular our Naval Service, doing in this regard? Is enhanced maritime patrolling taking place? Have the Defence Forces the necessary capabilities to undertake this work? Is this something that will be examined by the consultative forum that was recently established by the Tánaiste concerning foreign security and defence policy? I am conscious there is an EU directive, the network and information security, NIS, 2 directive, relating to this area. I am interested in the Taoiseach's views on this matter.

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