Second, the report on R116 showed a terrible lack of regulation.

The report on R116 is damning of everyone who was involved in SAR at the time. There was no oversight, control or regulation. The entire process was a bloody mess. To come in here and suggest that the civilian provider was subject-----

No, not on this occasion. I have taken two already. To come in here and suggest that the civilian provider was subject to rigorous regulation is a nonsense. Go back and read the report on R116 to see what it says. The bottom line is that there is a business case, which sets out what this contract is expected to do. There is no reason the business case cannot be published. This nonsense that the Government goes on with from time to time about not being able to release something because it is commercially sensitive i…

The pilots involved threatened to strike in 2019. Let us be honest.

The Comptroller and Auditor General spoke about the waste of €7 million-----

-----on providing night-vision technology that was not used until recently.

The bottom line is that we are where we are. My final word to the Minister of State today is for her to release the business case and prove me wrong. I do not believe that she will or that it would prove me wrong. That is it. End of story.

Hear, hear.

I wish a happy St. Brigid's Day to the Acting Leader and all her friends in Kildare. I second the amendment proposed by Senator Mullen to the Order of Business. I would like to second the amendment proposed by Senator Flynn but I am not in a position to do so. I ask one of my colleagues to do so for her because it is an excellent Bill. The case of Richard O'Halloran is over, thank God. I do not think anyone can accept plaudits for taking three years to get a person out of China. It is outrageous that it took that l…

-----but no soldier can be ordered to murder.

I understand that.

The Tánaiste is very welcome to the House. Listening to the conversation so far this afternoon brings back memories of my first job in the Castle Inn in Galway, which is now long gone. At the age of 13, my wages were £2 and my chances each week. Those chances were how much I could earn in tips, and it was necessary to work myself to the bone to ensure that I got the maximum for the night. This Bill is welcome. Before I get into the legislation itself, I thank former Senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh and Senator Gavan w…

Last night there was a private discussion at the Fine Gael Parliamentary Party-----

-----and the work of the Defence Forces Chief of Staff was brought into disrepute. The matter was reported in the newspapers. It is absolutely outrageous that there would be any comment on the Chief of Staff, who is not in a position to respond.

He is a servant of this State. The Minister must go further than he did in the Dáil this morning in making an apology to the Chief of Staff. I am not for a moment justifying anything the Chief of Staff did. The meeting with the Russians was scheduled and the photograph on Twitter was a mistake. The issue of the Russian fleet being off the south-west coast of this country in the coming weeks carrying out an exercise is something we must monitor. My colleague, Senator McDowell, spoke about the depletion of the Defenc…

No aircraft flies into Shannon with troops on board on a mission that has not been authorised under one of the chapters of the United Nations. This needs to stop. If we do not want these aircraft flying in and out of Shannon then we need to address this at UN headquarters and not in this House as it is not the place for it. We are a member of the United Nations and sometimes we have to be involved in the things we do not like, which is the truth of it.

I thank the Minister for being in the House. The Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors has expressed some concern about the move or the direction in which we are moving. We are clearly going to move inspectors from their supervisory role into a management role as we move into this. That is not their function. We need supervision on the ground using both our sergeants and inspectors. I ask the Minister to reconsider that particular part. I am under pressure for time and I also want to deal with Part 6 of the…

She only went for a run, Ashling Murphy. We have all been talking about it ever since her poor body was found. All of this hype will pass but Ashling's mother, father, sister, brother and other relations will have to live with their grief forever. It is really sad that we have been brought to this. I am the brother of eight sisters, the son of a wonderful mother, the husband of a wonderful and tolerant wife, and the father of a daughter. I have a daughter-in-law and two granddaughters. I cannot believe what I have …

There has been much discussion over the last few days about Ireland's neutrality and the Russian exercise off the south-west coast. I ask somebody to show me an Act of Parliament from this or any government that states that Ireland is a neutral country. Show me in the Constitution where it states that Ireland is a neutral country. Where can we find a reference to Ireland's neutrality anywhere in State legislation? We cannot. We are not a neutral country. We never have been. If we want to talk about neutrality, two …

I second the amendment to the Order of Business proposed by Senator Keogan. I was delighted to hear that Rescue 117 in Waterford has been saved. We now have four SAR bases in the country that are guaranteed by the Government. That is welcome and I thank all the Members of this House and the Lower House who got behind that campaign to ensure that we kept four helicopters. I have asked on a number of occasions for the business case for this to be released. This is part of the reason we asked for the debate in this Ho…