Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is not the Minister's perspective on these matters, and I presume if he had his way he would like to end Ireland's neutrality, but there are concerns about the creeping militarisation of the European Union over many years. Only six EU states are not full members of NATO. A recent report stated that "the NATO Response Force and EU battle groups are complementary, mutually reinforcing initiatives" and called for efforts to maximise synergies between them. The Minister is aware that Denmark and Malta do not take part in these battle groups. Does he have any plans to adhere to the wishes of the Irish people and not have Ireland involved in these battle groups? That would send a clear signal, and this is aligned to Deputy Daly's question on the issue of Shannon, that we are genuinely a neutral country. That would reinforce the point Deputy Ó Fearghaíl made about conflict resolution. If we were not aligned to NATO forces internationally it would give us credibility in terms of being in a position to deal with conflict resolution.

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