Gerard P. Craughwell: Ireland has no national security strategy
Gerard P. Craughwell warns the House that Ireland lacks a national security strategy and calls for the Defence Minister to appear. He highlights that Ireland is the lowest spender in Europe on national defence and that cyber attacks and threats to critical infrastructure are mounting.
Main concern: Craughwell told the House that the primary function of any state is to provide for the security of its citizens, and argued that Ireland is neglecting that duty. He referenced recent reporting on defence spending and criticised the unfulfilled 2019 promise of a national security strategy.
Infrastructure at risk: He pointed to the HSE cyber attack and warned that cyber attacks occur in their thousands every day. Craughwell said risks extend beyond cyber threats to water, electricity, gas transmission and transport, and that these systems require prioritisation in any national plan.
Operational gap: The senator said the national crisis team has no blueprint to follow when crises occur. He argued that without a strategy it is unclear what must be preserved in an emergency and what can be set aside, leaving responders without direction.
Request to government: Craughwell asked that the Minister for Defence be brought into the House for an open discussion on a national security strategy, and said he would support writing to the Minister to secure that appearance.
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Tánaiste Comhairleach, Acting Leader, the primary function of any state is to provide for the security of its citizens and in this state we are woefully, woefully, neglecting our citizens. I see Dan O'Brien has a piece out concerning the spend on defence in this country. We are the lowest spending country in Europe on national defence. There is no national security strategy promised in 2019. It's now becoming a bit like the Trump-Obamacare where every week the last paragraph is currently being drafted and it'll be out any day soon. We were already hit with the Health Service Executive cyber attack. Cyber attacks are happening in their thousands every single day, every minute, every nanosecond. There is an attack on somebody in this country. There is no national security strategy. The national security strategy would lay out how we would deal with such issues as water, the transmission of electricity, gas, transport, etc. It would prioritise what things have to be saved in the event of a crisis and what things can be left to set aside or dealt with at a later period. Nothing has ever been saved. Nothing. We have a national crisis team that meet every now and then when there is a national crisis, but they have no blueprint to work on. There is no strategy. I would ask, Deputy Leader, that we bring the Minister into this House and that we have an open conversation about a national security strategy. It's not always about people in uniform. It's not always about people that are in Defence Forces or Gardaí. It's about people working in electricity, people working in the gas transmission systems. It's about anything that makes this country work. So can we have the Minister for Defence in on the national strategy? Thank you. Senator Crawford wants to have the Minister for Defence here to come. To be fair, he's a constant advocate when it comes to security and defence, and he wants to discuss the national security strategy. And he is right. It's not just cyber attacks. It is about our water. It's our ESB. It is our gas. It's our critical infrastructure. We need to ensure, in the world that we're in and with the geopolitical, we need to ensure that we are protected. So I do support, and Chair, if it's OK, we would write to the Minister in relation to that.
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