Rose Conway-Walsh Presses Minister on Drone Interception Protocols

I listened intently to your answers around the incident involving the five drones endeavouring to intercept the plane of President Zelensky recently and I want to ask you specifically if a C-70 form was completed to ensure the Garda and Defence coordinated response and also if all protocols were followed in that incident. Thank you Deputy, I think there were two but Deputy Byrne is not here Deputy, as I outlined in my earlier response the widely reported incidents regarding drones operating in the vicinity of the naval service vessel has been discussed here obviously at length this evening notwithstanding again some suggestions President Zelensky's flight was not compromised and the security operation led by Angarda Shia Khanna was successfully deployed through multiple means ultimately leading to a safe and successful visit by President Zelensky again I would ask deputies but not just deputies I think all of us need to make sure that when we're speaking about these issues I suppose that we're speaking with facts and again I appreciate that what you're asking for is facts but in some instances there is only limited information that can be provided given the security nature of what we're discussing here I have been fully briefed in my capacity as Minister for Defence as part of the National Security Committee and the initial findings and I am reassured by both the Defence Forces and Angarda Shia Khanna that they have and that they are examining this matter extensively while I can confirm a C70 was issued by Angarda Shia Khanna to the Defence Forces seeking assistance in respect of the visit of President Zelensky again the Deputy would appreciate that I can't comment any further because they are operational matters but the C70 form was issued by Angarda Shia Khanna to the Defence Forces again one of my key priorities as Minister for Defence is to ensure that our Defence Force capabilities are maintained but not just that, that they are developed, they are enhanced so that the organisation can meet all of our government assigned roles including those that may arise as a result of drone incursions and again this is something we're seeing more and more of right across Europe and the world the Defence Forces work in this space aligns with broader national security planning that's ongoing work is well underway in the military radar programme that I've mentioned earlier which is a significant capability enhancement a dedicated project team of senior civil and military personnel has been advancing this programme particularly in relation to the counter drone element and it's been actively pursued by my officials this morning I brought to Cabinet the next stages of the new radar system we've put forward the new preliminary business case we're partnering with France and I hope in the early new year to be able to bring the final business case so that we can start what will be an extensive rollout of our new radar capabilities I certainly welcome the increase in the radar capability I think it's very important I think the challenge we have Minister is and I rightly appreciate that you cannot tell every detail that you have to be cautious in what you say but I think people do want to know people want reassurance that we are resilient enough that our resilience is holding up and being improved all the time and one of the questions that has been asked of me a lot is around them what is the protocol when there's drone activity in an area in the airspace are there other airlines notified or what happens in those incidents because I very much appreciate and very much welcome the fact that President Zelensky had a safe landing and a safe take off and was safe while he was here and I think that does tell us certain things but I think what we need to know is could other incidents have happened or were all of the protocols followed in that incident so maybe just tell us what the protocol is in relation to drone activity thank you thank you Deputy I suppose I would say at the outset I have confidence in our ability to defend ourselves to defend those who may travel to this country but I think we all appreciate and know that there's more we need to do and we're no different than any other country in that regard there are of course standard operating procedures there's different rules of engagement there's different laws whether it's in sea or land and it is for those who are trained and who are operating on the ground to be able to respond and to make sure that they comply with the different standard operating procedures but I can say at all times whether it was the Irish Naval Service or those responding that they operated within the SOPs but there is as there should be with any incident like this a review taking place and the Gardaí are working on that working closely with the Defence Forces and I think certainly if there are operating procedures that need to be enhanced improved changed if there are better structures that need to be put in place and that that certainly should be done but again I would repeat the fact that we didn't you know there wasn't a closing of airspace there wasn't any significant issue that arose here of course we need to be very serious about any type of threat any type of drones that are in any part of our airspace or within our vicinity of our vessels and it is something we're taking extremely seriously that's why we're prioritising within the 1.7 billion euro budget the development of the new radar capabilities but also that's there enhancing the expansion of our sonar the expansion of our air fleet the expansion of our ground fleet as well thank you but I still do think that we need to have some transparency and I suppose that's the reason why as the Defence and National Security Committee that we are asking for the remit to be revisited in that sense because I do think that transparency and accountability is very very important and I welcome the investment that you announced last week it's badly needed to address the neglect that there has been of our defence forces but there needs to be oversight of that as well and how it's spent and accountability for it people need to know as I said that we are resilient as a state and it's not just as opposed to the public but also just in terms of our competitiveness and the assurances that we can give to foreign direct investment and investing in this country they need to know right across the board in terms of our cyber and our security it has gone way up the scale in terms of things that are important to multinational businesses but obviously also to our indigenous businesses thank you thank you Deputy I just want to commend the members the men and women of our defence forces for the fantastic work that they do and to say that my time as Minister of Defence my priority will be investing in them and their capabilities their ability to respond to emerging threats but also it's important to mention as well when I say that the historic position that we have played in terms of peacekeeping and our troops on the ground and that will continue to be a focus and a priority for us the changing environment and the changing threats certainly so much has moved now to cyber threats you know and it's an issue that's raised I think regularly with all of us by companies whether they're small companies large companies by our agencies as well and so that's why it's vitally important that we continually invest in all of our abilities to respond to these type of threats so I mentioned earlier in one of the PQs the investment that's going into the technologies within our defence forces to be able to respond to and to be able to identify and to reject these type of threats but also there's been huge investment in recent years in Angard the Shia Khan there's been huge investment in our businesses through our Department of Enterprise working with the IDA working with Enterprise Ireland to make sure that businesses are alert to these type of threats that they're able to respond but they know exactly who to go to in these type of instances as well so we all need to be working collectively together but of course in relation to the defence forces there'll be a huge amount of funding spent and with that we'll be making sure there's the right resources and structures in place to protect what we're investing in thank you thank you You