LAST UPDATE | 28 Mar

AN EXPERT INVOLVED in the drafting of Ireland’s Annual Risk Assessment has warned that resistance to antibiotics is a serious problem for the State.

The Government has launch its Annual Risk Assessment document and warn of the risk to critical undersea cables, among other threats. 

Last year’s report focused on identifying nuclear threats, higher interest rates and the absence of a sitting government in Northern Ireland among its new top strategic risks in 2023.

The document, compiled by the Department of Defence, is used to inform policy decisions by Government. 

Published annually since 2014, the National Risk Assessment report identifies the challenges facing Ireland in the coming years.

The Tánaiste and Minister for Defence, Micheál Martin published this year’s report with its associated research project, FUTUREPROOF-IE. 

The study has identified 22 key risks including new threats from disruption to the critical supply chain and anti-microbial resistant infection.

The perennial issue of damage to Undersea Infrastructure is still a top priority.

Ireland has joined a new agreement with Nato which will see enhanced cooperation aimed at protecting against potential threats to undersea infrastructure and cybersecurity.

The Individually Tailored Partnership Programme (ITPP) will allow for greater information and intelligence sharing with the military alliance in areas such as peacekeeping, maritime security and tackling cyber and hybrid threats.

Last year, The Journal travelled to Portugal and witnessed an Irish team of Naval Service Divers working on perfecting undersea capabilities.

Professor Caroline McMullan, the lead researcher of the academic project Futureproof.ie which helped with the assessment, warned of the threat from infections that are resistant to medications.

She said there was some overlap but she warned that the public could be misjudging the risks. 

“The war in Ukraine was to the forefront in the minds of both the expert focus groups that assessed the risks and the public.

“We did see a greater awareness of the fragility of our supply chains, whether that’s food, medicines, energy, oil.

“Also, they were more aware of perhaps the changing nature of warfare. So the use of drones or the use of cyber attacks.

“Last time, when we undertook the National Assessment in 2020, antimicrobial-resistant infections had been the subject of study because they were emerging risks rather than a fully mature risk,” she said.

Tánaiste Micheal Martin, who is Minister for Defence and Foreign Affairs said his “key risk” was cybersecurity.

“Since the war in Ukraine, cyber attacks have increased exponentially, this has been documented by quite a number of sources,” he said.

The Tánaiste said the HSE cyber attack showed the “extraordinary human costs and financial cost”.

Martin also said that climate change adaptation was a key consideration – noting the extreme flooding incidents and also general climate effects on food production.

“On the subsea cables, again, the issue there is more collaboration across like-minded countries across the European Union, which we do. It’s also an investment in intelligence – everyone has an idea that it’s all about ships.

“Yes, we need ships on the oceans and we have an issue with recruitment and retention but the more fundamental issue actually is is around collaborating with others,” he added.

In an apparent nod to the instability in the Middle East the report will also state that there are concerns for oil supply.

Drone use in conventional warfare, currently being used in Ukraine and in the Middle East, is also a noted risk for Ireland the report will state. 

Drones being used near Dublin Airport also caused significant problems for air travel in the last twelve months.

It is understood that the threats could include drone use by criminals, terrorists and bad actors to spy on infrastructure and damage facilities.

The 2023 National Risk Assessment was supported by research carried out by the FUTUREPROOF-IE project which was funded by the European Union through the Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG-ECHO).

With reporting from Muiris O’Cearbhaill.