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

There has been a great deal of noise and publicity about this issue. The mere sighting of certain ships in the context of the war in Ukraine has created the impression this is all something new. It is not. Ships are being monitored all the time by our Navy and Air Corps and by others. In the vast majority of cases, as I said earlier, these transit passages appear to be routine. Obviously, there is a heightened focus and interest because of the war in Ukraine and because of the Nord Stream gas pipeline explosion. Equally, on the cyber front, we know there have been significant attacks on state infrastructures across Europe. We all collaborate, therefore, on sharing information with each other.

When the cyberattack on the Irish health service happened, the Polish Government, the British Government and other governments immediately contacted us. An Garda Síochána and other authorities pursued this issue and we then shared information in respect of the knowledge we had as a result of such investigations with other countries as well. The basic message in this regard is that because we are members of the CSDP framework, we share information and expertise and we work together in this context in observing and understanding what is going on. This is the future. I refer to co-operation through the CSDP.

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