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

These two measures look relatively benign and in the Minister of State's conclusion, the argument seems to be to ask who would deny our Defence Forces the opportunity to keep abreast of best practice and new developments. However, the point is that there are considerations and concerns that we are increasingly moving towards being part of a greater EU militarisation policy. There is no doubt that this will threaten our neutrality and the good standing in which our peacekeeping missions are held. I will take the example of Operation Sophia. We were respected because of the humanitarian work being done by the Naval Service on the migration crisis in the Mediterranean. Suddenly, we agreed to become part of this big EU naval mission, which I believe is totally discredited now because what has happened is those people who were taken in by this navy and brought to these detention centres having been mistreated by some elements of the Libyan coastguard and other boats in the area. We just had an informal meeting with one of the leading NGOs. The figures given regarding the rape of women and men in these detention centres were staggering and frightening. While these two measures look relatively benign, we cannot help but ask whether they are the first steps in a much bigger campaign and movement that will really endanger our neutrality and place us in a very vulnerable situation. In respect of the Minister of State's comment about how it impacts multinational crisis management operations, who defines the crisis and how do we come to an agreement regarding what is a crisis of which we want to be a part?