JUSTICE MINISTER HELEN McEntee has refused to confirm whether she was alerted to an alleged spy in the Oireachtas within the last five years.

McEntee said she is regularly briefed on all security matters, including by the intelligence services.

It comes after a report last Sunday stated that key government figures were told that Russian intelligence had recruited an Irish politician.

The Sunday Times reported that a “honeytrap” was used to recruit the politician dubbed Cobalt with one of the aims being to undermine relations between Britain, Ireland and the EU in the Brexit negotiations.

The newspaper also reported that while the Irish military and security services have identified the potential agent – given the code-name Cobalt by the paper – they remain a member of the Oireachtas.

The Tánaiste and Minister for Defence Micheal Martin said earlier this week that he was never told about an alleged spy.

During the week, a number of senators took to the floor of the Seanad to declare that they are not Russian spies. 

‘Ireland not immune to risks’

Speaking on RTÉ’s The Week in Politics today, McEntee said: “I think you’ll understand and appreciate I’m not going to get into details of what is a security matter. I shouldn’t.

“As Minister for Justice, I am directly briefed on a number of different issues, whether it’s coming directly from the gardai the or through the Defence Forces.

And I think what we’ve seen over the last number of weeks is that as a country, we are not immune to any type of attack, be it base physical or an intelligence-type attack.

“That’s why I’ve consistently said in the last few weeks, we all need to be aware of that, and I think we are, as public representatives, alert to the fact that Ireland – albeit a small country – we are not immune to these types of risks.”

Earlier this week, multiple sources told The Journal that Ireland is not immune from proxies pushing foreign Government influence and approaches to parliamentarians and state officials.

People with knowledge of the security environment said there have been a number of approaches by foreign governments, including Russia, in recent years to members of the Oireachtas. 

High-ranking officials at State institutions have also been approached, sources said. 

Contains reporting from PA and Niall O’Connor