Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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242. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence for an update regarding all Irish interactions and operational developments regarding the Common Information Sharing Environment since January 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59468/25]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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243. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the defence resources or personnel assigned for the implementing of the Common Information Sharing Environment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59469/25]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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244. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence for an update regarding any Irish organisations or institutions which are involved in the Common Information Sharing Environment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59470/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 242 to 244, inclusive, together.

I wish to advise the Deputy that, in April this year I approved the Defence Forces’ participation in the Common Information Sharing Environment (CISE), an EU initiative which enables structured and secure information-sharing among EU maritime authorities, both civil and military, allowing for more effective operations at sea amid new and evolving maritime threats.

It is anticipated that joining CISE will play a crucial role in increasing the Defence Forces awareness of maritime activities and improving responses to growing threats at sea, including physical and cyber-attacks on critical infrastructure, drug trafficking and other illegal activities. The Defence Forces are currently the only Irish authority with a role in maritime surveillance who have joined this voluntary EU initiative.

In May of this year at European Maritime Day in Cork, officials from my Department and members of the Naval Service met with senior representatives of the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), which is the lead EU agency overseeing CISE. EMSA are providing us with significant technical expertise to support the CISE implementation process. A representative of the Naval Service and an official from my Department also attended the most recent CISE Stakeholder Group meeting in Lisbon in June, where there were discussions on the operational use of CISE, CISE coordination at national level and interoperability with other EU systems. The next meeting is scheduled for November.

The CISE Stakeholders Group is entrusted with the execution of the activities needed to implement the operational phase of CISE. It is chaired by EMSA and it membership is drawn from Member States and bodies such as the European Commission, the European Defence Agency, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, the European Fisheries Control Agency and the EU's Satellite Centre. As members of this CISE Stakeholders Group we get access to technical, operational and administrative support for the development of CISE.

The Naval Service Operations Centre currently monitors maritime activity in Ireland's Area of Interest and, under the aegis of the European Defence Agency’s Maritime Surveillance (MARSUR) project, the Naval Operations Centre also has the ability to request or pass information to other participating European Navies. Participation in CISE will improve information flows into the Centre both in terms of its timeliness and format. The development of a Defence Forces CISE node is still in the preparatory phase with work scheduled to commence in 2026.