Membership of the EU, opposed by the main party opposite, has transformed this country and we should elect MEPs who work to advance the Union, as opposed to those who continually seek to undermine it. The fact the Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly are functioning again is a great relief to anyone who wants to see progress in Northern Ireland. Following yesterday's North-South Ministerial Council, there is a full agenda before us and I am determined to push forward the work of the Shared Island initiative. For…

I know the Opposition is not minded to hear a further articulation of the many achievements of this Government. We have a very comprehensive programme of work to do over the next 12 months and we are determined collectively to achieve it.

It is a wonderful cacophony of sound.

I thank the Deputy for his question. It is important to state that defence and security remain national competences and will continue to require unanimity in EU decision-making. Any decision to alter these arrangements would require a change to the European treaties. Furthermore, the specific character of Ireland's security and defence policy, as set out in the protocols attached to the Lisbon treaty, is well known and respected by our fellow EU member states. That being said, the EU faces unprecedented foreign and…

What I articulated in my reply was the factual position currently. Through our work on the Middle East, we have demonstrated that we have an independent foreign policy position and that we are working to bring other member states with us. The Deputy has discussed the Middle East a great deal in the House, but I will bring something to his attention. At the Foreign Affairs Council, FAC, meeting approximately one month ago, 26 member states were anxious to impose sanctions on violent West Bank settlers, but such a de…

I have noticed a trend in that the Deputy tends to try to create wedge issues or sow confusion and doubt. Defence and security remain national competences and will continue to require unanimity in EU decision-making. That is the bottom line. Trade, including the conduct of trade agreements, is an EU competence. That has been the case for a considerable time and has been advantageous to Ireland overall. The Deputy is against CETA between Europe and Canada and he has a different view on trade, in that he seems to be …

No, I am not.

It requires unanimity-----

I am not conceding anything.

As far as I am concerned, it requires unanimity. What I would have preferred would have been to be able to do more on Gaza and for 26 member states to count for something.

I thank the Deputy for tabling this question. To date, Ireland has participated in 14 projects with the European Defence Agency, EDA, six of which are completed and eight are ongoing. These projects include areas such as joint procurement, cyber, military search capability, maritime surveillance and counter-improvised explosive devices. Ireland's participation in EDA projects is underpinned by legislation requiring Government and Dáil approval. In that respect any future projects will also be scrutinised and taken …

First, any iteration, change or shift in CSDP within the EU will have to have respect for what we term the "specific characteristics" of policies of certain states including Ireland, Austria and Malta. That statement was made in the context of the Russian threat to the security of Europe. There is a real sense of vulnerability in terms of the war economy that is now, in essence, the driving force of the Russian position. Russia and its economy are on a war footing. Many countries who neighbour or flank Russia are e…

The essential issue here is European defence capability more broadly in terms of the European defence industry. Concern has been expressed across the EU about its inability to manufacture and develop-----

We are part of the European Defence Agency. We are a militarily neutral state. We are not aligned or part of a mutual defence pact but we do have to enhance our own capability. Certainly, we can be part of joint projects in terms of procurement. There is no issue there; that is allowed for in terms of investment and how we go about that investment. Joint procurement under the EDA is one aspect of that or we can partner with another member state in terms of specific aspects of procurement of certain defence infrastr…

I thank the Deputy for his question. The general scheme of the defence (amendment) Bill includes a number of proposed provisions, including provisions relating to the membership of the external oversight body. The provisions fully reflect the recommendations of the independent review group, IRG, report relating to the composition of the membership of the body. The recommendation does not include members of the Permanent Defence Forces representative associations. The general scheme provides that the current members…

The latter point is provided for. I have made that point. No representative body would be prevented in any shape or form from representing its members or articulating on issues pertaining to its members, and indeed they have not been. That is not going to be the position. It is in reference to the broader issues of political commentary that I said I would reflect on the legislation and the points that have been made. On the external oversight body, it is my view, and I have expressed this clearly and upfront to the…

The Deputy cannot have it both ways, though. When the independent review was published, he was the first in here asking if I was going to accept its recommendations. I have accepted its recommendations in respect of the external oversight body. There was a very clear communication made to me that previous attempts at this did not work and had not worked. There is no point in coming into the House and condemning all of what was covered by the IRG independent review report and then not acting on what the report has l…

I thank the Deputy for raising the question. The Irish Defence and Security Association, IDSA, was established in 2021 with a mission "to ensure Ireland develops appropriate, leading-edge and trusted defence and security capabilities in the land, sea, air, space and cyber domains, in order to protect our society, create jobs, drive research and enhance Ireland’s economic growth". That is a quotation from its mission statement. National defence industry associations are the norm in many EU member states, providing s…

This group is not under the aegis of my Department. The Department believes and I believe that there are similar groups all over member states. There is an arms industry out there. We purchase weaponry. To engage in peacekeeping, it is necessary to procure weaponry. I met with the EDA chief executive. Our participation in it is fairly low-key. The role of the EDA in the broader context of the EU is fairly low-key as well. The level of operation very much depends on the degree to which states want to co-operate with…

How does the Deputy think we should procure weapons? Does he think we should procure weapons at all? It seems to me that his position is that we should not and that we should have no arms industry at all. That is what he has suggested.