Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal East, Labour)
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229. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the unmanned naval or air drones for patrolling Irish territorial airspace or waters that are available to the Defence Forces; if a procurement process is underway to secure any such assets for the Defence Forces; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11314/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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A key priority for me as Minister for Defence is to ensure that the capabilities of the Defence Forces are maintained, developed and enhanced in order to ensure that the Defence Forces can carry out all of the roles assigned to it by Government.

At present, the Naval Service operate a selection of non-military specification drones which are utilised for a range of tasks; including search and rescue, Intelligence Surveillance Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance, fishery protection and pollution control.

The Naval Service routinely carry out maritime defence and security operations within Irish territorial waters and the EEZ. The main tasking of the Naval Service is to provide a fishery protection service in accordance with our obligations as a member of the EU, however any Naval Service patrol should be viewed as a multi-faceted activity.

The Air Corps currently does not operate unmanned aerial drones for the patrolling of Irish territorial airspace or waters, however it is intended that this capability will be developed in the future in line with the recommendation made by the Commission on the Defence Forces.

The Air Corps Maritime Patrol Squadron carries out aerial monitoring of the Irish EEZ. Two C295 maritime patrol aircraft equipped with state-of-the-art surveillance and communication equipment were delivered to the Air Corps in 2023 to replace the CASA CN235 aircraft. These aircraft considerably upgrade our surveillance capabilities.