Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

I thank Deputy Connolly and the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach, who agrees with him. I thank him for highlighting this matter. There are a couple of things in this regard. The Deputy is right that the Commission on the Defence Forces recommended exactly what he said it did. I will bring forward, either over the summer or early in the autumn, the next iteration of the implementation plan for the Commission on the Future of the Defence Forces where we will take forward more recommendations. We are also looking at a new national security plan for Ireland more broadly, which will be co-ordinated by the Department of the Taoiseach. Its purpose will be to ensure there are no silos or, as the Deputy mentioned, overlapping pieces of legislation. The maritime situation can also be considered in that context.

On the issue of the naval base, I will speak directly to the leadership of the Defence Forces to get their sense on this matter. There will absolutely be a need for more naval bases in our country. There is no doubt about that.

In the time available to me, I wish to say that getting this strategy right is so important. We live in a country where approximately 78% of our energy needs are imported on ships or via pipelines, approximately 90% of our trade is transported by sea and 95% of international data and voice transfers are routed through our undersea fibreoptic cables. The majority of transatlantic data passes through cables situated in Ireland’s economic exclusive zone.

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