Agency to handle security clearances and classification of sensitive information set to be established

The Government is to create a statutory agency responsible for classifying confidential information and issuing security clearances to officials in sensitive positions

The National Security Agency (NSA) will be responsible for creating a system of security clearance levels, from “restricted” to “top secret” and ensuring only officials with Garda national security vetting have access to classified material.

It will also likely be responsible for issuing security clearances to non-government officials working in sensitive areas, such as on EU defence projects. There is currently no system for non-government officials to get official security clearance in Ireland.

The focus of the legislation establishing the agency will be on ensuring the confidentiality of EU Classified Information (EUCI), as required by EU law. It is not clear if its work will extend to domestic classified information.

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The move is unrelated to the revelation last week that an Irish citizen, Marina Sologub, has been expelled from Australia after being assessed as a potential national security threat. While in Ireland, Ms Sologub worked in the National Space Centre and had access to a wide range of technology companies, including several connected to the defence sector.

The lack of a statutory clearance system in Ireland has been repeatedly raised as an issue by security officials in recent years.

It has also posed problems for the work of the National Security Analysis Centre which was established in 2019 to process intelligence from the Garda and Defence Forces and submit it to the government.

It is understood security officials previously raised concerns about sharing such sensitive information among people in the absence of a formal national security clearance system

Need for reform in the area was raised by the Department of Foreign Affairs in 2020 when it submitted to the Commission on the Defence Forces on the need for “a co-ordinated and regulatory approach to the governance of information security” and “greater synergies/interoperability” between State agencies.

Ireland is required by EU law to have an National Security Agency to handle confidential information from Europe. For two decades, this job has been done by a small, non-statutory unit based in the Department of Foreign Affairs that is staffed by civil servants from several departments..

Department of Foreign Affairs officials represent the State at the EU Security Committee, the EU Commission and at the European External Action Service.

A renewed focus on information security at EU level in the face of increased activity by Russian and Chinese intelligence has prompted the Government to decide on the need to strengthen Irish efforts in this area.

In recent months a group of senior officials from various Government departments, led by the Department of Defence, have been meeting to prepare draft legislation that would provide for a statutory “national security authority”, a Department of Defence spokesman said.

However it is not clear when the legislation will be published. “Work on the preparation of draft heads of a Bill is continuing and good progress is being made in the drafting,” the spokesman said.