Naoise Ó Cearúil (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

46. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence if he will report on Ireland's engagement with EU partners on defence innovation, including the development of radar and AI technologies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49098/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Ireland engages in Defence Innovation at a European level both through the European Commission schemes including; the European Defence Fund (EDF) and European Defence Innovation scheme (EUDIS) and through the European Defence Agencies programmes including; the European Defence Innovation Network (EDIN) and the Hub for European Defence Innovation (HEDI). The Defence Research, Technology and Innovation (RTI) office within the Department of Defence and Defence Forces is responsible for managing Ireland’s engagement in these programmes.

The European Defence Fund (EDF) is a key initiative by the European Union aimed at enhancing defence capabilities through collaborative research and development, with a budget of approximately €8 billion for 2021-2027. The RTI office and the EU Industry engagement unit supports Irish Academia and Industry to participate in innovative EDF projects.

The EU Defence Innovation Scheme (EUDIS) is an instrument enabled by the European Defence Fund (EDF) to strengthen defence innovation in the European Union. EUDIS offers a set of instruments for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), including start-ups, and other non-traditional players in defence industrial ecosystem to ensure more opportunities to access the European Defence Fund. It aims to lower entry barriers into the defence domain for smaller players and innovators, focusing on technological readiness and market maturity. EUDIS supports innovators throughout the development cycle to mature, scale-up, demonstrate their use-case, grow and successfully enter the market. The RTI office advertises the EUDIS scheme to Irish SME’s and Academics to participate in the Business Accelerator programme and the Defence Hackathons.

Through the European Defence Agency (EDA), the RTI office actively contributes to Defence Innovation activities and attends quarterly meetings in Brussels with the Hub for European Defence Innovation (HEDI). HEDI serves as a platform to stimulate and facilitate cooperation on defence innovation among Member States while ensuring synergies with related European Commission activities, notably the EU defence innovation scheme, coherence with NATO innovation initiatives, and other EU defence innovation organisations. The hub strengthens the Agency’s existing innovation activities while also initiating new ones. The RTI office has supported its initiatives through displaying the Irish Defence Forces Innovative projects at the European Defence Innovation Days in Krakow Poland in May 2025. Furthermore, Ireland has contributed national experts to the Operational Experimentation (OPEX) campaign in Italy in June 2025, which assessed new unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and unmanned ground systems (UGS) platforms from start-up industries. These activities help to ensure Ireland is prepared to adapt and integrate with innovative defence technologies.

The RTI Directorate within the EDA also ensures the promotion of innovation in defence and the exploitation of synergies at EU level with civil research in dual-use technology fields. Within the RTI directorate, Ireland has supported the working group for Trustworthiness of AI in Defence (TAID) to assess the potential pros and cons of AI in defence.

Ireland has not currently engaged in innovation activities in relation to the development of radar with EU member states. However, a key priority for me as Minister for Defence is to ensure that the operational capacity of the Defence Forces is maintained and developed in line with the Government’s decision to move to level of ambition LOA2, as defined by the Commission on the Defence Forces (CODF), by 2028.

Following approval of the CODF ‘Detailed Implementation Plan’ in November 2023, a project team comprising senior civil and military personnel was established to progress a Military Radar Programme; comprising Land based Long Range Primary Radar, Ground Based Air Defence (GBAD) systems, to include a Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems (C-UAS) capability, and Maritime (ship-borne) Radar. This programme of work is ongoing and good progress has been made.

My Department has engaged with a number of countries, including all EU Member States, to ascertain the interest in supporting Ireland to deliver this capability. Based on the responses received, I directed my officials to commence bi-lateral discussions with a small number of countries, with a view to assessing options for delivery and finalising this phase of the Programme before the end of this year.

I am happy to update the House on the progress of the Programme.