Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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My Department is the National Competent Authority with responsibility for Export Controls, including Controls on defence-related exports and exports of Dual-Use goods. My Department operates Export Controls to the highest standards, in accordance with EU law and international best practice.

Controls on the export of Dual-use items are administered by my Department, in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2021/821 of the European Parliament and of the Council setting up a Union regime for the control of exports, brokering, technical assistance, transit and transfer of dual-use items.

Dual-use items are products and components, including software and technology, that can be used for both civil and military applications. The bulk of Dual-use exports from Ireland are mainstream business ICT products, both hardware and software (networking, data storage, cybersecurity etc). They are categorised as Dual-use items as a consequence of the fact that they incorporate strong encryption for ICT security purposes.

My Department has safeguards built into the licensing system which enable robust checks and cross-checks to ensure, as far as possible, that the item to be exported will be used by the stated end-user for the stated end-use and will not be used for illicit purposes.

My officials consult with the Department of Foreign Affairs in respect of all export licence applications and seek observations on any foreign policy concerns that may arise in respect of all proposed exports. Such factors are subject to review in the light of developments in a given region. Observations which may arise from this examination are considered in the final assessment of any licence application.

In the period 7 October 2023 to date, my Department issued three individual dual-use export licences with a value of €31.4 million to end users in Israel. The three exports license were for category 5 items - ICT hardware and software.