The National Security Committee (NSC) of Ireland is a secretive inter-departmental committee responsible for ensuring that the

Taoiseach The Taoiseach (, ) is the head of government or prime minister of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the President of Ireland upon nomination by Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...

and

Government of Ireland The Government of Ireland () is the executive (government), executive authority of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, headed by the , the head of government. The government – also known as the cabinet (government), cabinet – is composed of Mini ...

are kept informed of high-level

national security National security, or national defence (national defense in American English), is the security and Defence (military), defence of a sovereign state, including its Citizenship, citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of ...

, intelligence and defence issues, and the state's response to them. The National Security Committee is chaired by the

Secretary General Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

to the Irish Government/Secretary General of the

Department of the Taoiseach The Department of the Taoiseach () is the government department of the Taoiseach, the title in Ireland for the head of government.Article 13.1.1° and Article 28.5.1° of the Constitution of Ireland. The latter provision reads: "The head of the ...

, and comprises; the

Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to incl ...

of the

Garda Síochána (; meaning "the Guardian(s) of the Peace") is the national police and security service of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is more commonly referred to as the Gardaí (; "Guardians") or "the Guards". The service is headed by the Garda Commissio ...

, the Secretary General of the Department of Justice, the

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

of the Defence Forces, the Secretary General of the Department of Defence, and the Secretary General of the Department of Foreign Affairs. The

Revenue Commissioners The Revenue Commissioners (), commonly called Revenue, is the Irish Government agency responsible for customs, excise, taxation and related matters. Though Revenue can trace itself back to predecessors (with the Act of Union 1800 amalgamating ...

Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications The Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment () is a department of the Government of Ireland that is responsible for the telecommunications and broadcasting sectors and regulates, protects and develops the natural resources of Ireland. ...

and Department of Transport also have intelligence roles, but are not full members of the NSC. The NSC meets on a regular scheduled basis and convenes additionally when required. The Taoiseach's office is responsible for calling meetings of the NSC. It was established in 1974 tasked with advising the Taoiseach and cabinet on high-level security issues. The committee receives threat assessments from the Garda Commissioner and the Chief of Staff, and reviews the overall security situation in the domestic and international environment. The Minister for Defence receives monthly intelligence, state security and defence briefings from the Director of Military Intelligence.

Members

Terrorism threat level

The constituents of the National Security Committee deliberate on Ireland's ''International Terror Threat Level''. Five levels are used to grade the international threat of a terrorist attack to Ireland; low, moderate, substantial, severe and critical. The gradings are based on a series of factors, including information supplied by international authorities. The threat level is administered by the Garda Síochána. International Terror Threat Level: * Low – An attack is deemed unlikely. * Moderate – An attack is possible, but not likely. * Substantial – An attack is a strong possibility. * Severe – An attack is highly likely. * Critical – An attack is imminent. The International Terror Threat Level was raised from low to moderate following the

January 2015 Île-de-France attacks From 7 to 9 January 2015, terrorist attacks occurred across the Île-de-France region, particularly in Paris most prominently at the offices of the magazine Charlie Hebdo. Three attackers killed a total of 17 people in four shooting attacks, and ...

National Civil Aviation Security Committee

The National Civil Aviation Security Committee (NCASC) is a standing committee established in 1974. The purpose of the NCASC is to advise the Irish government and civil aviation industry of security policy for civil aviation, to recommend and review security measures at airports and to co-ordinate the various interests involved. The National Civil Aviation Security Committee meets at a minimum biannually. The NCASC comprises senior representatives of government departments, Irish airports, Irish airlines, the Garda Síochána, the Defence Forces,

An Post (; literally 'The Post') is the state-owned provider of Mail, postal services in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. An Post provides a "universal postal service" to all parts of the country as a member of the Universal Postal Union. Services provide ...

, Customs & Excise (Revenue), the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA), and the Irish Airline Pilots Association (IALPA). The committee was established under the National Civil Aviation Security Programme (NCASP) which is classified on security grounds, and therefore the deliberations of the committee are confidential.

Continuity of government

The National Security Committee is the conduit for officials to communicate with the Taoiseach and/or cabinet members if their minister – the normal channel – became unavailable (or was killed). In preparation for such extreme events drafts of emergency powers legislation have been drawn up in secret by officials from the Department of Justice, including legislation to deal with circumstances such as an attack on cabinet involving numerous deaths.

Government Security Committee

In July 2017, a new Government Security Committee designated Cabinet Committee F (named after the room in which it held its first meeting) was established. Chaired by

Leo Varadkar Leo Eric Varadkar ( ; born 18 January 1979) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 2017 to 2020 and from 2022 to 2024, as Tánaiste from 2020 to 2022, and as leader of Fine Gael from 2017 to 2024. A Teachta Dála, ...

, the new committee is modelled on the British government

COBRA COBRA or Cobra, often stylized as CoBrA, was a European avant-garde art group active from 1948 to 1951. The name was coined in 1948 by Christian Dotremont from the initials of the members' home countries' capital cities: Copenhagen (Co), Brussels ...

crisis management committee with the aim of bringing together more senior cabinet-level ministers on matters of state security. Its inaugural meeting was attended by the

Tánaiste The Tánaiste ( , ) is the second-ranking member of the government of Ireland and the holder of its second-most senior office. It is the equivalent of the deputy prime minister in other parliamentary systems. The Tánaiste is appointed by the P ...

; the

Minister of State at the Department of Defence The Minister of State at the Department of Defence () is a junior ministerial post in the Department of Defence (Ireland), Department of Defence of the Government of Ireland who performs duties and functions delegated by the Minister for Defence ...

; Ministers and senior officials from the Departments of

Justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...

; Defence; Enterprise, Trade and Employment;

Finance Finance refers to monetary resources and to the study and Academic discipline, discipline of money, currency, assets and Liability (financial accounting), liabilities. As a subject of study, is a field of Business administration, Business Admin ...

and Public Expenditure and Reform;

Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit organization, nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership or ...

;

Health Health has a variety of definitions, which have been used for different purposes over time. In general, it refers to physical and emotional well-being, especially that associated with normal functioning of the human body, absent of disease, p ...

; Housing, Local Government and Heritage; Environment, Climate and Communications; and

Transport Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...

, where senior Defence Forces and Garda officers briefed them on the international terrorism threat.

References