Naval Service
Dail Éireann — 2026-06-09
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Helen McEntee (FG), Meath East

I concur with the Deputy's initial point, which is that we have 24-7 monitoring of Irish waters, of our exclusive economic zone. This is happening in the air and at sea, and it is supported on land mainly by our base in Haulbowline. We have increased and expanded our capacity, capabilities and ability to monitor what is happening above our seas, but also to monitor what is happening below our seas, in particular to protect our critical infrastructure, which comes across the Atlantic and goes through Ireland on to mainland Europe and beyond. It is an absolutely essential component of the work of our Defence Forces that we ensure we have the right numbers, that we grow our capacity within our Naval Service and that we continue to invest in our capabilities while working more closely with our European and international partners. Integral to that is the expansion and overall growth of our Reserve Defence Force members. We have seen that in other important structures of our State, notably An Garda Síochána, where our reserve members, coupled with the civilian forces, have helped to grow and expand and have really complemented the work. That is no different here for our Defence Forces.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-06-09/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:05+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-06-09