Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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226. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the number of meetings of the Government Task Force on Emergency Planning held since 2022; the exercises completed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47201/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Since 1 January 2022 to date, there have been twenty-one meetings of the GTF (detailed breakdown below at Fig 1). Since the 1 January 2022, there have been eleven exercises completed (detailed breakdown below at Fig 2)

Fig 1. Government Task Force Meetings since 1 January 2022

Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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227. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the offshore patrol vessel sea-days, Air Corps aircraft flight hours, maritime domain awareness coverage, and interoperability protocols with UK and EU partners achieved in each of the past three years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47202/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The Defence Forces routinely carry out at sea monitoring of Irish territorial waters and the EEZ. This monitoring is done using both Naval Service and Air Corps assets.

In addition to at-sea patrols, the Naval Operations Command Centre located at Naval Base Haulbowline is staffed twenty four hours a day, seven days a week by qualified Naval Service personnel. These staff carry out remote monitoring and surveillance of all vessels equipped with a Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) that are operating in and adjacent to the Irish EEZ.

The Naval Service maintain good relationships with their UK and EU counterparts, an example of these good relationships are demonstrated by regular port visits to Irish ports by foreign naval ships as well as port visits by Irish Naval ships to UK and EU ports. The Naval Service often utilise these port visits to carry out a PASSEX with the visiting naval ship. A PASSEX is an exercise conducted between two navies and aims to enhance communication, cooperation, and interoperability between the participating navies, allowing them to improve their ability to work together.

Ireland is engaged with a number of EU defence-related initiatives and frameworks, including the European Defence Agency, the Coordinated Annual Review on Defence, the Permanent Structured Cooperation PESCO, the EU Satellite Centre, the European Defence Fund and the European Peace Facility (EPF).

The table below details the Defence Forces maritime patrols from 2023 up to the end of August 2025.