Government must place national security analysis unit on a statutory footing

Prof Donncha O’Connell said the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland wanted to address gaps in An Garda Síochána’s security capacity, particularly around cybersecurity.

Putting the State’s national security analysis unit on a legal basis “should be given priority”, almost four years after a Government-appointed commission recommended the unit be immediately established to address gaps in the country’s intelligence apparatus.

The call from Professor Donncha O’Connell, a member of the now-defunct Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland (CFPI), comes amid a significantly worsened global security situation and growing concerns of threats to Ireland.

The National Security Analysis Centre (NSAC) was set up in early 2019, within the Department of the Taoiseach, following the commission’s report in September 2018.

“A number of dramatic events threatening national security have occurred since September 2018 when the CFPI recommended a fusion centre model to pool information and expertise on national security matters and to provide an authoritative source of advice for government,” said Prof O’Connell.

He said the commission was minded to “dilute the near-monopoly” on national security and intelligence matters by An Garda Síochána.

In addition, he said they wanted to address gaps in the Garda’s security capacity, particularly around cybersecurity, and improve cooperation with other agencies, particularly the Defence Forces.

The centre, as recommended, would:

• Bring together representatives of key agencies and departments;
• Provide regular threat analyses to the Taoiseach;
• Carry out long term threat assessments;
• Develop intelligence requirements and "assign them" to Gardaí and other agencies;
• Ensure no overlap between intelligence agencies (such as Gardaí and Defence Forces).

The commission said it was “vital” that security intelligence be coordinated “outside” the police or other agency.

A public consultation was set up, to finish by December 2019, to help the unit devise a National Security Strategy for 2020-2025.

Some two years on, the strategy, which will be the country’s first, has still not been published, although there were delays caused by Covid-19.

Prof O’Connell said: “Since 2018, the  cyberattack on the HSE and a number of security events pre-dating but connected to the war in Ukraine underscored the case for significantly enhanced national security capacity and improved coordination.”

This imperative was amplified in unequivocal terms in the Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces (CDF) published in February 2022. 

He said the CDF report stated that an "overarching legal and governance framework" was urgently needed to clarify roles of Gardaí and Defence Force and improve cooperation.

Prof O’Connell said: “Presumably, it follows from this that NSAC should be placed on a firm statutory footing? 

"In whatever implementation plan is adopted by government to advance the recommendations of the Commission on the Defence Forces this should be given priority and there is no reason why it could not even be included in the Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill, already published.”