'Prevent sabotage and attack' - Senator Joe Conway speaks on undersea cables  

Waterford Senator Joe Conway spoke about the importance of undersea cables during a session in the Seanad this week, stating that Ireland had a duty to protect them from attack and sabotage.

During a commencement session on maritime jurisdiction, the Senator spoke about the economic expansion of Europe post World War II and how Ireland's place in Europe is being impacted by "sybaritic European negligence".

Senator Conway said to Minister of State for the Department Defence, Deputy Thomas Byrne: "In this regard, Ireland has challenges thar an ghnáth (earlier than usual)."

He said: "It is a fact that the great majority - 75% - of this country's subsea communications go through the seas off our coasts. 

"The cables carry commerce and investment every day to the tune of approximately €10 trillion. Since 75% of those cables are in or near our waters, we clearly have a duty to co-operate with others to police them and prevent them from being sabotaged and attacked.

"We spend 0.25% of GDP on defence. Compared to other small European countries, this is risibly small. Estonia, Latvia, Finland, Lithuania and Poland spend far more on defence. 

"Even Finland, which has the lowest defence spending of those countries, spends 10 times more per capita than we do."

Senator Conway ended: "I would like to think we will get an explanation from the Minister of State of the Government's proposals to police not only our subsea cables, but all our vital interests."

Deputy Byrne responded: "The Government is taking measures to safeguard subsea communication cables in Irish waters. Obviously, we cannot comment on specific security actions, but the following examples highlight the Government's commitment to enhancing the protection of undersea cables through our broader security initiatives." 

He referenced Ireland's involvement in the PESCO project, which examines supporting "capabilities with regard to protecting critical undersea infrastructure, thereby increasing its security and resilience".