Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to brief the House on international security and international trade - two issues at the core of Ireland’s foreign relations at a time of great turbulence and change in the world.

The Tánaiste has clearly set out the challenging international security situation and international trade context, highlighting the complex global environment in which our economy is working for the people of Ireland. As businesses must be responsive to the changing environment, we must recognise the threats on the landscape we now face are changing rapidly. I would like to address emerging threats, ways in which our economies and our way of life are under challenge. Ireland’s prosperity is rooted in a rules-based system that provides certainty not just for our security and well-being as a country, but also for our economy, businesses and citizens. Hybrid threats, cybersecurity and maritime security are real issues for us in Ireland today. They are also real issues for our European partners, our main and most important economic partners. Today, we must consider the full spectrum of security as this is of key importance to Ireland and to the EU, not only to preserve our current way of living but to plan for our future.

Ireland cannot rely on its geographic isolation for its security or isolate itself from world events. The nature of the threats we face are unlike those we have had before. They may include cyberattacks, disinformation campaigns that seek to undermine our social cohesion or interfere with our energy and telecommunications infrastructure. The havoc wreaked by the malicious actors who attacked the HSE in 2021 offers a reminder that neutrality is no safety blanket when it comes to such threats. The response to the cyberattack also put into stark relief the essential need for close co-operation with international partners on security issues. We must work through the EU and with our international partners to address such threats, as well as preparing our own domestic structures to meet these challenges. We have already taken important steps in recent years to bolster our national security institutions, for example, through the allocation of significant resources and capabilities to the National Cyber Security Centre.

Russia has unleashed a campaign of hybrid activity against European countries that has stepped up in the past year. These malicious acts include disruption to critical infrastructure, cyberattacks, spreading misinformation and disinformation and attempts to interfere in electoral processes. The underlying aim of this activity is to undermine European democracy. Ireland will work constructively with the EU and other member states to prevent, deter and respond to these destabilising activities. Later this month the EU will publish the preparedness Union strategy, which will take a whole-of-society approach to ensuring readiness for future crises. The EU will also introduce a European democracy shield to enhance the ability of the EU and member states to combat disinformation and malign online manipulation by foreign powers in Europe. Commissioner Michael McGrath has been tasked with taking this forward.

Turning to our economic security, the Government is mindful of the need to minimise risk in the context of increased geopolitical tensions and the challenges facing the rules-based international order. We are engaging constructively on a co-ordinated EU approach on economic security. This includes the EU’s European economic security strategy which was launched in 2023 and which will assist the EU and member states to develop a shared understanding of Europe’s economic dependencies. Our focus should be on derisking rather than decoupling trade and investment relations, with strong support for multilateralism and the promotion of open rules-based trade.

Domestically, this year Ireland introduced screening for investments from third countries to enhance the State’s ability to respond to potential threats posed to security and public order from some third-party country investments. Ireland has also increased investment in cybersecurity. We have committed under the programme for Government to deliver a new national cybersecurity strategy and promote a centre of excellence for cybersecurity skills, as well as make further changes to our structures in this area to ensure proper alignment to our national security infrastructure. In the EU, we have recognised that as cyberspace spans national borders, governments must collaborate to prevent and mitigate cyberattacks on our national infrastructure, essential services, businesses and citizens. The EU’s regulatory framework speaks to the strategic importance of robust cybersecurity controls and mitigation measures in critical infrastructure and important industry sectors. We have an ambition for the EU to be a global leader in setting standards for cybersecurity and a human rights-based development of digital technologies.

We have an exclusive economic zone of close to seven times our land area. Maritime security is another essential domain of strategic importance to Ireland. The Internet cables that carry our communications and data traffic play a crucial role in our interconnected economies.

The cables that connect Ireland with the United States, the UK and mainland Europe pass through the waters of our maritime exclusive economic zone. Some of our critical energy interconnectors are also underwater, ensuring stability and continuity of energy supply.

We are all aware of the recent attempts to damage and sever communications cables and energy interconnectors in the Baltic Sea. We cannot assume we are immune from similar risks. Protecting critical undersea infrastructure is a key economic task. Being an open and highly connected economy, it is more important than ever that we take our own security and responsibility towards our like-minded partners seriously. For this reason, the Government is committed to broadening and deepening Ireland’s international security engagement and to working with partners in public and private sectors to enhance Ireland’s domestic security.

We are on an island and know that peace and prosperity are closely linked. It is in the stable environment of a secure and rules-based global order that prosperity has thrived and in which many countries, including our own, have moved from poverty to economic success. Ireland’s peace is won in the EU and our prosperity is inextricably linked to a well-functioning, competitive and open Single Market. That in turn is inextricably linked to a safe and secure global environment. The discussions that are taking place under the European economic security strategy are helping to develop a shared understanding of Europe’s economic dependencies as the geopolitical environment becomes less stable and less safe. I strongly believe that Europe’s influence in the world will depend largely on developing the Continent’s economic strengths as an open, resilient and competitive market-based economy. At the same time, evolving geopolitical risks may call for proportionate, precise and targeted responses to new economic security challenges. These should be focussed on de-risking rather than decoupling trade and investment relations.

Ireland is engaging constructively with this agenda, aiming to preserve maximum levels of economic openness. Ireland continues to encourage parallel progress through the three pillars of the European economic security strategy - promote, protect, partner - and the need to balance preservation of the EU’s open and dynamic economy with the need to safeguard and protect Europe’s interests from new economic security challenges. The Government is working with key economic stakeholders in preparation for the increasing prominence of the economic security agenda, which is likely to have significant impact on our FDI and export-focused enterprise bases. The Government is also working to raise risk awareness among its FDI and export development agencies and their client companies regarding export controls, FDI screening, sanctions and other economic security and related matters. In complementing this work, we must not lose sight of the significant advantage we have on our doorstep, that is, the access we enjoy to the EU Single Market. We will continue to support an ambitious free trade agenda, one that enables Irish businesses to avail of new opportunities.

Since early December, my Department has been engaging with Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland in developing the ministerial-led trade missions programme for 2025. With tourism joining my Department, Tourism Ireland trade missions have now been added to the 2025 trade missions programme. In line with my Department’s commitment to maintain, grow and expand our market reach, trade missions are planned for the US, the UK, the Nordics, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, the Japan Expo 2025 and South Korea. It is important in a rapidly changing geopolitical environment to step up our activities to support Irish companies and to develop and grow oversea markets. There is also provisional planning for a trade mission to South Africa in conjunction with Ireland’s position as a guest country during the South African presidency of the G20.

I am giving a specific focus to the US. It is important that we continue to grow the transatlantic economic relationship and use our agencies as a conduit to build upon our enterprise and business relationships. In February, I visited San Francisco and San Diego as part of a joint tourism and EI-IDA trade mission. St. Patrick’s Day gave me the opportunity to further promote Ireland in the US as a dynamic, competitive and globally connected country. I travelled to Massachusetts and New Hampshire where I had an intensive programme to celebrate our national day and emphasise the importance of our cultural, social, trade and investment relationships with America. In Boston, I attended the Boston Young Leaders celebration and met Massachusetts Governor, MS Maura Healey. We have seen in recent decades the thriving business and economic sector in Boston and there continues to be great opportunities for Irish businesses to expand there. I visited the seafood expo at the Boston convention centre to meet Irish companies attending the event and had meetings with EI and IDA clients and prospective companies. I delivered remarks at the Irish American Partnership breakfast. I also travelled to New Hampshire, where I had the opportunity to engage with the Republican Governor of New Hampshire, Ms Kelly Ayotte, and attended a lunch hosted by the commissioner for business and economic affairs, Mr. Taylor Caswell. This was an opportunity to meet members of the recently formed Irish Trade Council. In order to build upon and strengthen our links, we plan further trade missions this year to the US - Chicago and Minneapolis in May and the west coast in September.

The new Enterprise Ireland strategy for is entitled "Delivering for Ireland, Leading Globally: Strategy 2025-2029". This strategy aligns closely with the objectives of the new programme for Government. It focuses on enterprise competitiveness and productivity, enhancement of supports for startups and assisting companies to scale globally. Indeed, over the past 18 months, there has been a significant increase in the competitiveness agenda across the EU. This was initially indicated in the newly reformed annual Single Market and competitiveness scoreboard, published in January 2024. Since then, there has been the publication of the Letta report, entitled "Much More Than a Market", which looked at empowering the Single Market to deliver sustainable prosperity for EU citizens. This was followed by the Draghi report, entitled "The future of European competitiveness", which set out a wide range of recommendations in order to improve the EU’s competitiveness.

Enterprise Ireland’s new strategy will pursue this competitiveness agenda. Its strategy sets out a long-term ambition for Irish exporting businesses to become the primary driver of our economy. It establishes a headline target of 275,000 jobs in Enterprise Ireland-supported companies by 2029, which would be an additional 41,000 jobs compared to the current position. Enterprise Ireland-supported companies are also given a target of €50 billion in export sales by the end of 2029, with an additional aim for Enterprise Ireland to support 150 large Irish exporting companies of more than 250 employees by 2029. There is a particular focus on sustainability, given Enterprise Ireland’s central role in supporting the achievement of our industrial emissions reduction targets and it will continue to prioritise collaboration with the local enterprise offices to ensure that Irish businesses of all sizes are supported throughout their development.

International expansion will continue to be critical to the ability of Irish companies to thrive and scale, and a key element of Enterprise Ireland’s activity will be to support startups to grow, leverage sales and access global markets. Enterprise Ireland undertakes direct strategic investments in high-potential startups and provides indirect funding to Irish companies through the seed and venture capital scheme. The initiatives and actions outlined in the strategy will support the delivery elements on enterprise of the programme for Government and will complement achievement of the Government objectives across a wide range of areas, including climate action, skills development and research and innovation. The actions that I have listed are being undertaken by my Department in alignment with the trade objective of diversifying supply chains and advancing Irish trade through the existing EU framework for free trade agreements.

The goal of all this work by my Department and me is to stand as a pillar in the overall strategy, as laid out by the Tánaiste, in navigating the complex geopolitical environment that we as a country are responding to. I look forward to engaging with the House today and hearing the views of all the Deputies in these turbulent times in international security and trade.

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