Latest news with #Irish-controlled
Irish Independent
30-04-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
Two out of three staff at AirNav Ireland earn over €100,000
The 2024 annual report for AirNav Ireland shows that 418 of the 642-strong workforce earned over six figures, which included 145 personnel whose salaries were between €150,000 and €200,000. Some 303 staff at AirNav Ireland have the job of air traffic controller, and the report says that last year they successfully managed 'a record-breaking 679,000 flights across en-route and terminal services, and provided voice communications to over 537,000 flights on the North Atlantic'. The report shows that a further 28 members of staff earned between €200,000 and €250,000 per annum. The chief executive, Peter Kearney, received total remuneration of €266,000 made up of a salary of €225,000, €38,000 in pension contributions, and €3,000 in other taxable benefits. Mr Kearney's seven-year term as CEO is due to end in June. Last year's higher staff costs, due to a wage increase and an increase in numbers from 626 to 642, contributed to pre-tax profits at AirNav Ireland declining by 37pc to €12.8m. Revenues increased marginally from €194.49m to €196.79m. The group generates income by charging its airline customers for traffic management services within the 451,000 sq km of Irish airspace. The accounts show that €103.84m was paid out in staff costs, including €78.44m on wages. All staff, apart from the CEO, received a general pay increase of 4.25pc in 2024. AirNav Ireland paid out a dividend of €4.5m to the State last year. It was the first full year of operations following the transfer of air navigation functions from the Irish Aviation Authority. In his report chairperson Bryan Bourke stated: 'Overflights managed within Irish-controlled airspace increased by 3.2pc to over 380,600 flights. Commercial air traffic at Cork, Dublin, and Shannon airports rose by 1.3pc to over 278,300 movements, while flights managed on the North Atlantic saw a 3.5pc increase to over 537,000 flights.' Operating profit for the group was €8.2m, almost half the €16.1m recorded in 2023, principally due to a once-off training cost refund in 2023 of €3m, and lower revenue in North Atlantic communications activities of €2.7m due to a lower customer charge per flight. The profits take account of non-cash depreciation charges of €11.37m and a Met Eireann charge of €8.7m. In 2024, the group generated net cash from operations of €21.8m. At the end of December, AirNav Ireland had shareholder funds of €316.6m that included cash funds of €33.6m.
Irish Times
28-04-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Irish tech firms pivot to defence as EU re-arms
Europe's rush to beef up defence capabilities has opened a lucrative market in security technology for Ireland, despite its neutrality. Irish scale-up companies in radar, artificial intelligence (AI) and surveillance tech are pivoting to new opportunities in defence and security and seeking to cash in on the EU's huge spending splurge in the sector, prompted by US warnings that it will not protect its allies forever. 'Demand has always been difficult to crystallise but the market is there much more now,' said Fintan Buckley, co-founder and chief executive of Ubotica Technologies, which uses AI-enabled satellites to track dark vessels and other threats in real time. [ Russian intelligence ship located in Irish-controlled waters not responding to communication Opens in new window ] Ireland is not a Nato member, has the EU's smallest defence budget and has no plans to change its policy of neutrality. But the Defence Forces have a long tradition of taking part in international peacekeeping missions. READ MORE The favourable tax regime which has helped attract some of the world's biggest tech companies, spawning local businesses and good jobs for skilled workers provides an opportunity to 'help with Europe's resilience', said Malcolm Byrne, Fianna Fáil's spokesman for innovation. 'We're never going to see Ireland investing in tanks and weapons. But certainly it makes a lot of sense for Ireland to develop our capabilities in areas around cyber security,' he said. Ireland's maritime area that it has to protect is seven times the size of its land mass and criss-crossed by transatlantic data cables facilitating internet activity, making cyber security a key issue. An estimated three-quarters of cables in the northern hemisphere lie in or close to Irish waters, and Russian ships have repeatedly been found lurking nearby – as recently as this month. Yet the Naval Service can only deploy two ships on patrol at a time, with one on standby, as well as co-operating with the UK for air defence. The Government has faced criticism from analysts and other nations for 'freeloading' in defence, especially considering its huge surplus at present. Mark Mellett, a retired Irish Naval Service vice-admiral and a former chief of its defence forces, said there is an 'acknowledgment that Ireland has to lift its game'. Several niche Irish tech companies told the FT they had seen more interest from potential clients since Europe's move to boost military spending. Safe-driving company Provizio makes sensors, using chips from US giant Nvidia, that prevent accidents by detecting obstacles. Its founder and chief executive Barry Lunn said interest in his technology has grown tenfold in the past couple of months, in part thanks to an emerging defence market, including identifying safe routes for military convoys and self-driving equipment. Lunn has been approached about military applications in the past, including for use with Ukrainian drones. But he had always declined. Now, 'we've started answering the door a bit more' to 'non-weaponry-based' queries, he said. 'Deep-tech needs money and what we do needs money – well then, you have to follow the money,' Lunn added. Like the space AI company Ubotica, which Buckley said is 'having conversations with relevant government and other bodies in Europe', Lunn said Provizio is also talking to a 'number of larger companies' in Europe and the US about security uses for its technology. VRAI, a Dublin-based company that uses AI to crunch data to train employees in the offshore wind industry and aviation, can also pivot its applications from the civilian to the military sphere, its chief executive Pat O'Connor said. 'We're not a defence company, we just happen to have a lot of demand coming at us from the aerospace, defence, security sector as well,' he said. 'The opportunity is clear ... We [in Ireland] could be the leaders in the area of dual-use technology.' Underwater imaging company Cathx Ocean, whose AI-enhanced analysis has slashed the time needed to survey critical seabed infrastructure for companies such as oil major BP, says a third of its business is already focused on protection and security. 'It's definitely a growth industry,' said chief executive Adrian Boyle, noting the underwater autonomous vehicle market was already expected to increase by 20 per cent in the next four or five years. That forecasts was 'before any of the current changes happened', he said. 'It could move much bigger than that.' Green Rebel, a company based in Cork near Ireland's southern coast, uses robot submarines across Europe to map and monitor the seabed including for offshore wind infrastructure. Deploying more Irish tech 'would go a long way to reassuring the rest of the European Union that we're doing something productive in this area', said its director of science and new markets Jared Peters. 'It's a great way to bridge the gap between being a neutral country but not being defenceless.' – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2025
Irish Times
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
Ireland cannot protect its waters alone, UN expert says
Ireland would find it very difficult to fully secure its maritime area, even with significantly increased naval capabilities, according to a United Nations expert on subsea security. Dr Camino Kavanagh was speaking following the launch of a report she authored as part of the UN Institute for Disarmament Research which examines the threats to subsea telecommunications cables worldwide. There is increasing concern in the Irish Government and in the European Union about the vulnerability of subsea cables and infrastructure. Dr Kavanagh said Irish waters are a 'choke point' for such cables and a 'point of vulnerability'. About 75 per cent of transatlantic cables go to or near Ireland. Recent activity by Russian naval vessels in the vicinity of these cables has increased concern among officials. READ MORE Speaking at an event organised by the Institute of International and European Affairs , Dr Kavanagh said it was 'very, very difficult' for small countries with limited navies, such as Ireland, to 'fully monitor and patrol and surveil the ocean around under their jurisdiction'. This would be the case even if Ireland achieved the most ambitious goals laid out by the Government to substantially increase its naval fleet and subsea monitoring capabilities, she said. Collaboration with other countries in this area is key, said Dr Kavanagh. 'That's already happening with other countries, including with the countries that Ireland shares its maritime borders with.' She referenced Ireland's recent decision to join the common information sharing environment which will allow it to quickly share naval intelligence with other EU countries. [ Ireland joins naval intelligence network amid increase in Russian ships in Irish-controlled waters Opens in new window ] Dr Kavanagh, who is visiting senior fellow with the department of war studies, King's College London also cautioned against governments overreacting to reports of damage or sabotage to subsea cables. Most damage to subsea cables is caused by commercial vessels, she said. Furthermore, recent high-profile incidents which some security agencies have blamed on Russia had minimal impact on telecommunications services. Dr Kavanagh's report, which was supported in part by the Department of Foreign Affairs , detailed several ways Ireland is attempting to protect the subsea cables around its coast, including updating regulations in the area. It is also funding the laying of new cables to provide additional redundancy in case of an incident and is streamlining the planning process for new subsea infrastructure. In addition, regulations introduced last year allow the Government to provide financial assistance to a private company 'where an essential service needs to be supported and such support is justified by public-interest objectives,' the report states. 'Ireland is also moving in the direction of greater policy and regulatory co-ordination across seabed users, aided by the establishment of the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority, a reformed planning commission, and a new regulatory co-ordination agency for the maritime space,' it said. The Government is also planning a 'centralised database' for the authorisation of maritime activities.
Irish Examiner
23-04-2025
- Business
- Irish Examiner
Irish waters may be a 'choke point' in terms of vulnerability of subsea cables
Irish-controlled waters are considered internationally a 'choke point' in terms of the vulnerability of transatlantic subsea cables, a UN expert has said. Around 11 fibre optic cables, connecting North America to Europe, pass through or near Ireland's EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone), which stretches over 200 nautical miles off the south west and west coast. 'Subsea fibre optic cables are now the backbone of our communication infrastructure,' Camino Kavanagh, a senior fellow with the UN Institute for Disarmament Research told a webinar in Ireland. 'More than 95% of global internet, voice and data traffic passes through the vast submerged network. So literally, all of our private, business, government, and military communications depend on it, as do global financial transactions all the way down to humanitarian assistance. She said concerns of damage to cables, whether accidental or deliberate, are 'particularly acute' in certain maritime regions, including the North Atlantic, North Sea and Baltic Sea. Ms Kavanagh said: 'Ireland is considered a choke point of vulnerability.' Former Defence Forces chief of staff Mark Mellett who hosted the webinar said surveillance by foreign actors 'may well be a ticking timebomb'. File picture: Colin Keegan/Collins She said Ireland is a risky location along with the likes of the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. The neglect of Irish naval capabilities, a lack of maritime intelligence, together with increased surveillance activity and visible military posturing by Russian vessels in Ireland's EEZ has raised growing concerns regarding the security of subsea cables and energy pipelines. Hosting the webinar, organised by the Institute of International and European Affairs, retired Defence Forces chief of staff Mark Mellett said it has been clearly visible in recent times that foreign actors are 'carrying out surveillance activity' in Irish EEZ and speculated that this 'may well be a ticking timebomb' regarding what might be planned for the infrastructure in the future. Ms Kavanagh said it is 'very, very difficult' for a small country, such as Ireland, to fully monitor and patrol a large area – even if the Government implements its planned investment for the Defence Forces. Instead, she recommended two basic measures the government could take: 'Hardening' the physical and cybersecurity of the land components of data cables (where the cables land) and network infrastructure, as these sections are 'often the most vulnerable' and are 'easier to damage' than cables in the sea; More detailed collaboration with other countries, including neighbouring states, in terms of protecting maritime areas. Ms Kavanagh said Ireland could learn from Finland, in terms of a 'whole of government' approach to the issue, involving a partnership with the maritime private industry, which own and operate the cables. She said the Netherlands is a good example for gathering maritime information by establishing a Data Fusion Centre, where relevant agencies co-locate. Norway is another country Ireland could learn from, she said, in using subsea sensors near cables.
