Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

459. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence his Department’s involvement in increasing the State’s cybersecurity infrastructure, including additional financial resources allocated; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39152/22]

Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

460. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence his Department’s interaction with international agencies and other states in relation to improving the State’s cybersecurity; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39153/22]

Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

461. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence if he will detail if any additional personnel from the Defence Forces of his Department have been tasked with dealing with hybrid and cybersecurity threats to the State; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39154/22]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 459 to 461, inclusive, together.

In terms of cyber security, at national level the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications has the lead role with inputs in the security domain from An Garda Síochána and the Defence Forces. The National Cyber Security Centre, which is part of the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications, is the primary authority responsible for cyber security in the State, including incident response, cyber resilience and information provision.  

While the primary role of the Defence Forces with regard to Cyber Security relates to the defence and security of its own networks and systems, the Department of Defence and the Defence Forces are committed to participating, under the leadership of the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications, in the delivery of measures to improve the Cyber Security of the State. This is being done in line with the Programme for Government commitment to implement the National Cyber Security Strategy, recognising the potential and important role of the Defence Forces. 

Officials in my Department and members of the Defence Forces work closely with the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications and other Government Departments and Agencies to support measures to deal with cyber challenges.  A member of the Defence Forces is also currently seconded to the Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence in Tallinn, Estonia. The Centre is staffed and financed by 34 different countries. It is involved in carrying out cyber-defence focused training, awareness campaigns, workshops, and courses, developing and conducting cyber defence-focused exercises and developing its ability to provide cyber defence exercise support, providing a link between small and medium enterprises in the sector and governments, and developing its capability in cyber defence testing and validation. Having a member of the Defence Forces in the Centre of Excellence means we get important insight into developing trends in cyber security and it strengthens the ability of the State to respond to such threats.  

The Dail very recently gave approval to join the PESCO project known as the Cyber Threats and Incident Response Information Sharing Platform. This project aims to strengthen EU Member States’ cyber defence capabilities and response to cyber incidents by promoting cooperation in the field of cyber threat information sharing. Ireland also participates in projects in the European Defence Agency which aim to maintain and improve cyber resilience as well as the levels of awareness, insight and expertise of EU Member States' Defence Forces personnel in the area of cyber defence.

While it would be inappropriate, from an operational perspective, to comment on the Cyber capability of the Defence Forces other than to say that there is on-going development of cyber capabilities within the Defence Forces, on 12July Government approval was given for a move to ‘Level of Ambition 2’ (LOA2), as set out in the capability framework devised by the Commission on the Defence Forces. The Government also approved the High Level Action Plan, which sets out the response of Government in relation to each of the 130 specific recommendations in the Commission’s report. LOA2 includes a number of cyber-related measures such as deepening Defence Forces involvement in relevant national and international forums to enhance capability development in the cyber domain. Among the early actions identified in the High Level Action Plan, a detailed implementation plan will be published before the end of 2022, which will set out the recommendations to be delivered over the short, medium and long term.