Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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108. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the steps his Department is taking to advance Ireland’s commitment to nuclear disarmament and arms control; including support for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, and other multilateral initiatives; the level of dedicated staffing and budget currently allocated to this policy area within the Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43365/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Achieving a world free from the threat of nuclear weapons is a long-standing priority for Ireland. We continue to actively work towards this goal, including through our leadership in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). Ireland views the TPNW as an important and necessary addition to the disarmament and non-proliferation architecture and as fully complementary to the NPT, the cornerstone of this architecture. We also remain a committed and steadfast member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organisation and the Conference on Disarmament.

In our latest effort to achieve a world free from the threat of nuclear weapons, in 2024, Ireland, in partnership with New Zealand, successfully led a resolution on the establishment of a scientific panel to examine the effects of nuclear war. The Panel will focus on the physical and societal consequences of nuclear war, leading to the publishing of an updated, encompassing report in 2027 – accessible to all – that ties together the interconnected impacts that would result from a nuclear war.

The Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Unit within the Political Division of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade currently leads on this area. In 2025, €490,000 has been provided to projects that will support and advance nuclear disarmament and arms control.