Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department will seek to recoup costs from the Irish government for UK security assets during Ireland's presidency of the Council of the European Union.

The UK and Ireland work closely together on shared security challenges, but the UK does not provide defence cover for Ireland, nor does it deploy security assets to protect Irish subsea infrastructure. The Ministry of Defence has not received any requests from Ireland for security support during their presidency of the Council of the European Union.

Matters relating to Ireland's defence posture and expenditure rest with the Irish authorities, and any enquiries on those issues should be directed to them.