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

I thank the Deputy for tabling this question. To date, Ireland has participated in 14 projects with the European Defence Agency, EDA, six of which are completed and eight are ongoing. These projects include areas such as joint procurement, cyber, military search capability, maritime surveillance and counter-improvised explosive devices. Ireland's participation in EDA projects is underpinned by legislation requiring Government and Dáil approval. In that respect any future projects will also be scrutinised and taken through that legislative requirement before any commitment is made.

Ireland is currently participating in the following four PESCO projects: deployable military disaster relief capability package; upgrade of maritime surveillance; maritime semi-autonomous systems for mine countermeasures; and cyber threats and incident response information sharing platform. My Department and the Defence Forces are regularly assessing PESCO projects against the capability development requirements for our military and remain ambitious to participate in other PESCO projects that can deliver for Ireland. Under the programme for Government Ireland's participation in PESCO projects requires Government and Dáil approval.

As the Deputy will be aware, Ireland has been a member of Partnership for Peace since 1999, which is seen as fundamental to Ireland being able to meet its obligations in providing professional peacekeepers for international crisis management and peacekeeping operations and in enhancing the Defence Forces’ interoperability with other professional military forces.

Ireland’s agreed ITPP for 2024 to 2028 governs the continued co-operation with NATO under Partnership for Peace. It is a voluntary and cooperative framework between NATO and individual partner countries and is partner-led. The ITPP sets out areas for cooperation including, for example, tackling cyber and hybrid threats, enhancing resilience in maritime security, and through the women, peace, and security agenda. It also sets out the military areas where the Defence Forces strive to attain maximum interoperability, enabling of capabilities, and the enhancement of the professionalism of the Defence Forces and its ability to contribute to international peacekeeping operations. There are no specific projects contained in the ITPP. As I have referenced, this is about co-operation, getting access to information, training and education.

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