Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I have had three different experiences of foreign affairs committees since I was first elected to the Dáil. The first one was very much focused on human rights issues. The second one, in the previous Dáil, added "trade" to the title of the committee. Now this one has "defence" in its title. We have broadened our horizons considerably in recent years.

Having heard the Minister of State's presentation, two things come to mind when thinking about Ireland and defence. The first one is the preservation of our neutrality, which has been undermined in recent years. We must be strongly committed to our neutrality. The second one concerns the reputation of our peacekeeping forces. Both are connected. It is because we are a neutral country, along with our development aid programme, that we have an excellent reputation. Our peacekeeping troops abroad have been exemplary in all their missions. I know that there are serious issues with how peacekeeping troops from other countries handled situations, but the Irish peacekeeping troops have been excellent. I had those two aspects in mind when reading the Minister of State's speech.

Perhaps I should know the answers to my questions, but defence is a new element to this committee. My fellow Deputies here are their parties' spokespersons on defence. Why did Ireland not look for an opt-out clause similar to that of Denmark? What does it mean in real terms if we do not have that opt-out clause? The participation in category A and B projects are subject to Government or Dáil approval. Again, perhaps I should know the answer, but when was the last time we had to do something that required the Minister of State to come to the Dáil? The term "international crisis management" is vague. Keeping in mind our peacekeeping troops and our neutrality, is there a danger that we will end up in a very different role in an international crisis management situation?

My other question concerns fishing and the role of the Navy in protecting our fishing waters. In years past there has been great concern on the part of the fishing industry about the attention paid to it as opposed to that paid to intruders in our waters, that is, the big factory ships. There is a perception among some in the fishing fraternity that they were being targeted. I am not saying whether they were breaking the law but the focus on them was disproportionate to that on other fishing fleets. Will the Minister of State provide some further information on the protection of our fishing waters?