Sinéad Gibney (Dublin Rathdown, Social Democrats)
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55. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence his Department’s position on the feasibility and legality regarding defence of subsea cables outside of Irish territorial waters; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60394/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I wish to advise the Deputy, that my Department has taken the lead in the development of a National Maritime Security Strategy following identification of maritime security as a priority in last year’s Defence Policy Review. This strategy is being developed in consultation with national and international stakeholders.

When it comes to legislation dealing with maritime security, my Department is keen to ensure there is a consistent approach and that there are legal solutions for protecting critical undersea infrastructure. It is also important to ensure the law is written in such a way that it can be enforced at sea by the Naval Service in all circumstances where they have the designated authority to enforce it.

I anticipate that developing new legal approaches to deal with this issue will be one area of focus of the new strategy. Working closely with neighbouring countries and international bodies will be required since, similarly to other EU Member States, we want to ensure the effectiveness of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and we want to identify international best practice for legal solutions to improving maritime security. These are complex legal issues that require considerable review and engagement which are proving challenging to many countries.

In the meantime, the Naval Service continues to conduct maritime surveillance and fisheries patrols in the seas around us. In addition, the Defence Forces routinely monitor foreign vessels in our Exclusive Economic Zone with both Naval Service assets and Air Corps maritime patrol aircraft, as well as remote monitoring on a 24/7 basis from the Naval Operations Command Centre in Haulbowline.

Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal East, Labour)
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57. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence to comment on the report from the committee of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly which recommends that the UK and Ireland establish a joint statutory cables protection commission to protect and monitor communication cables, gas pipelines and other maritime infrastructure; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [57174/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I wish to advise the Deputy that my Department is developing a National Maritime Security Strategy to deal with new threats and vulnerabilities in the seas around us through a whole-of-government approach to improving maritime security.

The new strategy will focus on enhancing maritime domain awareness and on ensuring the protection of critical maritime infrastructure, especially critical undersea infrastructure. Developing regional partnerships and boosting international cooperation in order to increase maritime security will also be vital given these threats and vulnerabilities are common concerns.

I am aware of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly’s new report that suggests establishing a joint statutory cables protection commission to protect and monitor critical undersea infrastructure with representatives from government, defence and industry and which would include monitoring patrols in British and Irish waters, the mapping of this infrastructure and increased resilience of communications networks.

I welcome the attention given to this important issue by the British Irish Parliamentary Assembly. Their proposals in support of improved protection of critical undersea infrastructure will be considered in the development of the maritime security strategy.