It is important to be accurate on these issues.

I clarified that at the start of the debate. It is-----

There is quite a lot to respond to there. I had a closing speech but I will put it aside and try to answer people's questions. Every second speaker raised the issue of pay and allowances. Many of the people campaigning for the Defence Forces representative associations to have a relationship with ICTU in the context of the public sector pay discussions need to understand they cannot have it both ways. They cannot call for increased pay for the Defence Forces and at the same time want them to be part of collective b…

On the sub-sea cables issue, we need to be careful not to over react to a potential threat but we cannot ignore it either. The Nordstream I and 2 pipelines are, because of the nature of those pipelines, particularly controversial given what is happening in Ukraine and the various different pressures regarding the use of energy and energy supply as part of a hybrid war tool. That said, we have already had a meeting with the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications, Gas Networks Ireland and EirGrid o…

For the budget that we have committed by 2028, I insisted on picking a point in time before the war in Ukraine and before the commission reported, which was January 2022, so that we could have a reference point for what were military prices at that point in time. Where we need to be by 2028 is the equivalent of €1.5 billion in January 2022 prices, for 2028, which I think will be close to €2 billion but maybe slightly less or more. Inflation and cost increases for defence equipment are significant. In terms of the c…

Let me make it clear. That decision has not been made. It is not close to being made. We are doing some research on Cathal Brugha Barracks but there has been no decision to close it. I do not believe that barracks will be closing. I know I am a bit tight for time now.

I have 30 seconds to deal with a great deal. I am aware of dereliction in the Curragh Barracks; we are working on it. It is part of the capital programme. We have €270 million of expenditure over the next few years already mapped out. From a Haulbowline perspective, recruits there today will see new ships, and €74 million of capital investment on the island over the next ten years. The east tip will also be remediated. We have opened probably the highest quality accommodation building in terms of all of the Defence…

I propose to deal first with the Department of Defence Vote before moving on to the Department of Foreign Affairs. For 2023, the total allocation for the defence sector is €1.174 billion, comprising €893 million for Vote 36 - Defence, and €281 million for Vote 35 - Army Pensions, which is an overall increase of €67 million on 2022, doubling the increase in the Defence Vote from last year. What is not yet accounted for in the Defence Estimate is the provision for the new pay deal, should it be approved later this ye…

The tabling of a motion of no confidence in the Government at this time says more about the party opposite than the Government. This is a cynical political tactic to raise Sinn Féin's profile in the last week of a Dáil session, taking up valuable time when so many issues need this Parliament's focus. What makes this stunt even more cynical is the reality that it will not succeed. There was never a realistic expectation in Sinn Féin that it would. This is about disruption. It is about reinforcing negative messaging …

Despite all of this, because of the Government's priorities, 30,000 homes have been commenced in the past year and close to 10,000 social homes will be delivered this year. We have much more to do. Unfortunately, we will have to do it in spite of those opposite. We will continue to protect a strong economy from Sinn Féin ideology and disruption, keeping people in work and growth intact to pay for the social change that is desperately needed in terms of investment. This is a Government that understands that the publ…

I move: That Dáil Éireann approves the report by the Minister for Defence regarding service by the Defence Forces with the United Nations in 2020, a copy of which was laid before Dáil Éireann on 21st June, 2021, in accordance with Section 13 of the Defence (Amendment) Act, 2006. I welcome this opportunity to report to the Dáil on Irish Defence Forces’ participation in United Nations missions in 2020 and 2021 and to present to the House a motion proposing Ireland's participation in four permanent structured co-opera…

We can have that debate, but this is not it.

This is not it.

He is in Ukraine.

I thank all the Deputies for their contributions. I will try to respond to the issues that have been raised. Ireland cannot stand still when it comes to defence and security. We cannot build a wall around our island and pretend we do not see what is going on in the rest of the world.

The Deputy should let me specifically answer the issues he and others have raised. They cannot on the one hand praise the Irish Defence Forces for their peacekeeping work and at the same time prevent them from training with other countries across Europe on projects they choose to be involved in, to upgrade their capacity to be better peacekeepers, better soldiers and better Defence Forces personnel. The four projects I am asking this House to support are projects the Defence Forces have chosen. The Defence Forces c…

I have clear views about how that debate should evolve and so on. I hope we will be able to have some of that debate, although resourcing our Defence Forces is a different debate to the debate on neutrality, how it is defined and what is wanted for the future. I am not proposing to this House that Ireland should move away from its position of non-military alignment. I will propose to Government next week that we adopt an ambitious series of recommendations in response to the commission's report. The recommendations…

I hope that will be possible. If not, we will have a long debate on this in September and October. These are important issues. They will not go away. They will be as significant in September as they are now. This is not a party political issue and it should not be seen as something that needs an instant debate. These issues will not go away. The security landscape on our Continent is, unfortunately, changing because of raw aggression and brutality in the east, coming from Russia into Ukraine. That is changing how e…

The same applies to mine countermeasures. If we were asked by the UN to be part of an agreed international mission to help to get grain out of Odesa at some point in the next months, do the Deputies think we should train to have the capacity to be able to say yes to the request? I think we should. I do not think we should isolate ourselves from the benefit of that kind of training. That is what PESCO is about. These are voluntary projects where we train with other countries to improve the skill set and capacity of …

-----the neutrality debates. I look forward to those. Let us focus tonight on what we are being asked to make a decision on, which is to give the Defence Forces the opportunity to train with other countries to improve their skill sets.