Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Perhaps the two Deputies could meet on home territory for a weekend. I thank the Minister of State for the detailed report he gave us on the issues raised at the informal and formal Defence Council meetings, and thank him for his exchange with the members of this committee. The issues are of concern to the committee and to the Permanent Defence Forces, and we look forward to ongoing dialogue with him on them.

The Chief of Staff has agreed to come before this committee, but that date has not been fixed yet. It will occur during this Dáil term. He had agreed to appear before the committee in July but we had to postpone the meeting because he had a commitment abroad and the timeline would have made it difficult for him to make an appearance on that occasion. The meeting will be held before Christmas.