Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will address the Deputy's last comment first. It is a matter for the Minister, Deputy Coveney, and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. I will not enter onto his ground. As Deputy Barrett knows, one can get one's wings clipped very quickly if one encroaches on another Minister's area.

I agree 100% with Deputy Barrett that the role of the Defence Forces is changing rapidly. It is a conversation that an awful lot of people fear having. Perhaps they do not want to have it or whatever the story is. It is important we explore and exchange views even if people have views that are on totally different spectrums. It is important we share our views.

Deputy Chambers raised the issue of the Fine Gael document on neutrality this morning. It is good to have all these documents out there. People can like it, lump it, agree or disagree with it but it is important we have it because the role of the Defence Forces and the role of Europe are changing rapidly and we have to be able to change with them.

The issue of the fishery rights and the Naval Service was raised. There is a memorandum of understanding drafted between the Department of Defence and the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority where it involves the Irish Naval Service. We have responded to every request made by the Sea-Fisheries Protection Agency. We have never failed. I assure the Deputy there is a lot of dialogue going on. The assistant secretary, Mr. Ciaran Murphy, who is sitting to my left, is the lead in my Department on all Brexit-related issues. He has other people within the Defence Forces. He is feeding into the Defence Forces. There is prudent planning and contingency planning going on in the background. For security reasons and because I do not want to alarm people, I will not say we will be doing particular things but we have to think about it. That is happening through the Department of the Taoiseach and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. All senior officials are talking. An awful lot of work is going on in the background. The Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority is primarily a Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine issue. The Minister, Deputy Michael Creed, is the lead on the Department side dealing with our sea fisheries. He is responsible for our sea fisheries and for what will happen post-Brexit. I have no issue with coming back here but it is an issue for the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

We will be responding to the requests from the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority under the memorandum of understanding, but it is really a policy issue for the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Minister, Deputy Creed, in the first instance.