Proposed National Maritime Security Strategy- Consultation Open!

Closing date

The closing date for receipt of submissions is 11th July 2025.

How to send your submission:

Please click on the survey link provided and answer the list of pre-set questions. Once you have completed the survey, hit submit at the bottom of the page. Your responses will be forwarded directly to the Department of Defence.

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Background

Ireland has one of the largest maritime Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) in the European Union with a maritime area that is 7 times our land area. We have extensive sea fishing, air traffic, sea lines, undersea cables and energy production capacity and infrastructure situated in the waters around our country. Approximately 78% of our energy needs is imported on ships or via pipelines and 90% of Irelands trade by volume is transported by the sea. Over 95% of international data and voice transfers are routed through undersea fibre optic cables and the majority of transatlantic data passes through cables situated in Ireland’s EEZ. Also of note is that approximately 80% of our population live in coastal counties.

The most recent Defence Policy Review, prepared in 2024, found that there is a need to give a particular focus on maritime security given: the assessed threat level; our geographic position; and our responsibility and commitment to support the security and defence of Europe. The Defence Policy Review highlighted the recognised increase in suspicious activity affecting the security of undersea fibre optic cables and energy infrastructure in Irish waters. This infrastructure is of critical importance given Ireland’s island status and plans in relation to the development of offshore renewables. The use of Ireland’s maritime domain as a conduit for illicit activities by organised crime groups is also noted as a risk in the maritime domain. The 2025 Programme for Government also recognises the increasing importance of maritime security given our significant and expanding sub-sea data cabling infrastructure and emerging offshore energy sector.

In addition, Ireland’s most recent National Risk Assessment, coordinated on a whole-of-government basis by the Department of Defence, identified Damage to Undersea Infrastructure as one of the 22 key risks facing the country. Other key risks of relevance to maritime security highlighted in this assessment are: a Disruption to Oil Supply due to an incident in Dublin Port; Disruption to Electricity/Gas Supply, which is linked to the critical undersea infrastructure risk; and a Maritime Incident, whose reasonable worst case scenario is a fire on board a passenger/car ferry in Irish waters involving mass casualties and requiring mass rescue.

Amid growing geopolitical tensions and the risks already identified, development of the new National Maritime Security Strategy will seek to better assess the vulnerabilities and threats to Ireland’s maritime security environment and to address these concerns in order to safeguard Ireland’s maritime interests and to effectively address emerging challenges.

Work to Date

The Defence Policy Review set out that the Department of Defence will coordinate and deliver this new National Maritime Security Strategy. The Review also calls for this strategy to be prepared in cooperation with national and international stakeholders. Stemming from this, the Department of Defence established a Maritime Security Unit at the end of 2024.

The Maritime Security Unit has carried out extensive research since it was formed. This includes examination of existing strategies and policies in the area of maritime security, outreach to maritime industry and to maritime authorities, meetings with international partners to identify potential opportunities related to cooperation on the protection of critical undersea infrastructure, and outreach to neighbouring countries to learn from their experience and to identify opportunities to work together.

From this work it is clear that enhancing maritime domain awareness and protecting critical maritime infrastructure, especially critical undersea infrastructure, will have to among the key strategic objectives of the new National Maritime Security Strategy.

Our ask of you

Ireland’s maritime domain is a vital national interest, and the threats it faces underscore the importance of a robust, adaptive and collaborative maritime security strategy. As such the Department of Defence would like to invite submissions from the public on the formation of this strategy. This consultation marks a critical opportunity to shape Ireland’s approach to safeguarding our waters. We encourage an open, constructive dialogue and this will enable us to build consensus on the diverse threats, risks, challenges and opportunities being faced by the country.

We want to hear from you.

Important information

• Anonymous submissions cannot be accepted and will be rejected.
• Making a submission is a public process and information received may in part or full be subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2014 (FOI), Access to Information on the Environment Regulations 2007-2014 (AIE) and the Data Protection Act 2018.
• The Department of Defence intends to publish the contents of all submissions received to this consultation on its website. The Department will redact personal data prior to publication. In responding to this consultation, parties should clearly indicate where their responses contain personal information, commercially sensitive information or confidential information which they would not wish to be released under FOI, AIE or otherwise published.

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