Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Senator is correct in saying that we need to treat this as a priority, and the Minister for Defence, Deputy Coveney, is doing so. He very much welcomes the open discussion and debate around whether we can defend our sovereignty. That is the pertinent question that needs to be teased out. The Irish people need to be reassured we have adequate defence mechanisms. The Senator mentioned the prospect of Russia invading our space, so to speak, and the British Royal Air Force having to come into our waters. He also spoke about the risks to the transatlantic cables and about cybersecurity. I have noted all of those points and will raise them with the Minister for Defence.

On the issue of threat assessments and the two White Papers I mentioned earlier, my understanding is the assessments have indicated a low probability of a conventional military attack on the State. However, they also point to the fact that security channels are such that no single country can deal with these threats alone. That is important in terms of context. I can assure the Senator that the Minister Defence is committed to this work and has said so on numerous occasions. As Senator Byrne mentioned, the Minister is increasing the budget for the Defence Forces. I also note what the Senator said about Finland, a similar-sized country, and the amount of money it is spending. I do not think any conversation should be off the table on this particular issue.