THE MINISTER FOR DEFENCE has defended the Government’s handling of the drone incident during the visit of President Zelenskyy and sought to reassure the public that it is being “taken extremely seriously”.

It’s after four military-style drones breached a no-fly zone and flew towards the flight path of the Ukrainian president’s plane at sea near Dublin Airport shortly after his plane had landed, ahead of an official visit.  

Helen McEntee was speaking in the Curragh this lunchtime as she announced a change in the National Development Plan to prioritise the acquisition of counter-drone technology and other key equipment for the Irish Defence Forces. 

McEntee, who took over the Foreign Affairs and Defence briefs last month when Simon Harris moved to Finance, reiterated that the visit by Zelenskyy had been “hugely successful”.

She said that the Government is due to receive a report on the drone sightings and sought to reassure the public that it is being taken seriously. 

“Yes there were identifications of drones in the skies at certain times. There is a review ongoing at the moment, I am not going to comment any further at the moment, but what happened here is being reflected right across the EU,” she added.

The Minister said that the drone incidents in Europe were designed to cause disruption.  

While the Irish government has so far stopped short of naming Russia as being behind the drones, António Costa, the President of the European Council, said yesterday during a visit to Dublin that Moscow was to blame.

Speaking at the Curragh event, McEntee said there would be a record €1.7 billion capital investment in defence over the next five years – an increase of €600 million, or 55%, on the previous baseline.

Many of the individual measures mentioned today had been previously announced, notably in 2023 when the Government released a Detailed Implementation Plan.

For example the vast majority of the announcements of new helicopters for the Irish Air Corps, a new Government jet, replacement of the PC-9 training aircraft have all been announced before.

The new jet is due in Ireland in the coming weeks and has already been purchased and built.

The procurement of radar and drone technology was also covered in today’s announcement. While plans for both have been in the works for years, what’s new today is that specific figures have now been disclosed on what the government will be spending. 

There will be full delivery of the Military Radar Programme by 2028, with phased rollout beginning next year, it was confirmed. 

€19m of ‘accelerated’ funding is being ringfenced for anti-drone technology ahead of  Ireland’s EU Council Presidency in the second half of next year.

In response to a question on the lack of progress delivering largescale projects in the last decade McEntee responded: 

“Well, I’m here now, and I’m saying that this is going to happen by next summer, we will have anti-drone technology. By 2028 we will have a new radar system. We will have significant investment in our fleet on ground and air and in our naval services.”

The Minister said she has spoken to Defence Forces Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Rossa Mulcahy and asked him to identify new threats that may need more equipment. 

“We know how we need to get there, and that does require investment. It does require capital spend as well as current spend, and it means making sure that this is a priority for us.

“Certainly as Minister for Defence, it’s an absolute priority for me to make sure that this money is spent, that it goes exactly where it needs to go, but that also we are looking at new and emerging threats.”

Minister Helen McEntee examining a bomb disposal robot at The Curragh Camp today.

Drone incursion

Regarding last week’s drone incident during the Zelenskyy visit, questions have been raised as to why there was no formal request from An Garda Síochána to the Irish Defence Forces for help providing security for the time the Ukrainian leader was arriving in Ireland.

The drones were sighted from a Defence Forces ship – this was reported back to their own base. However, because there was no request of aid by gardaí for the naval service to be involved in the operation, the first the gardaí heard about it was when they were contacted by the Defence Forces in the early hours after the incident.

The Irish Defence Forces were operating in the sea off Dublin because they were there as a matter of course, ordered by their own officers, and not as a part of the broader Garda operation.

Sources have said that this exposes an issue of lack of a joint command and control which potentially stymied decision making.

Today McEntee would not be drawn on the issue but said that both the Defence Forces and gardaí have a “very positive relationship” and said the Zelenskyy was “a hugely successful day”.

“Our Defence Forces and An Garda Síochána, have the same goal and objective. How do we keep people safe? How do we work together to make sure that is the case and that will continue, and where we need to evolve and grow, where we need to put structures in place to enhance that, that’s something that we will do,” she said.