Ms Noelle O'Connell:

I thank the Deputy. There were some excellent questions there. I will start with the question on the UN Security Council. As I mentioned previously in response to Deputy Howlin's, we are somewhat limited by breadth. We do not carry out a Eurobarometer survey. As much as we would like to, we cannot and do not have the resources to really drill down into greater detail on the 50 key topics that we would like to. Maybe some day we will get to that stage.

In any case, every year we try to ask a pertinent and topical question. I am delighted that the Deputy raised the question we posed on the UN Security Council. It is encouraging to see 68% of people in Ireland agreeing that Ireland's seat on the council offers us an important opportunity to influence global affairs. That is certainly to be welcomed. Ireland's permanent mission to the UN is working constructively and proactively on all matters to ensure we exercise the Irish voice and bring to bear the Irish perspective to the best extent that we can through the UN and the UN Security Council. It is important to see that support is in place among people in Ireland in that regard.

The Deputy asked about our analysis of neutrality and the view of 54% on increasing defence co-operation. Over the 2018-19 period, physical future of Europe citizen dialogues took place throughout the country. We can see the views from our conversations with people from Letterkenny to Cork and everywhere in between. There is appreciation, understanding and a proud recognition of our track record in peacekeeping. We have the longest unbroken peacekeeping service. There is recognition of the importance of maintaining our neutrality. The view is that it is not mutually exclusive from looking at proactively engaging in some of the defence and security matters that can be engaged in co-operatively. Arguably, few would disagree that the recent cyberterrorism and cybersecurity attacks have highlighted the importance of looking to combat these threats.

As the Deputy knows, there were efforts to look at misinformation and disinformation. We saw a great deal of misinformation around vaccines and coronavirus. Interestingly, one of the questions we posed in the poll was whether the EU should do more to regulate social media platforms. More than 70% of people in Ireland believed that should take place.

The Deputy asked an interesting question on trade agreements and trade deals. Due to space and budgeting, we had to leave that question out this year. In the 2020 poll, we posed a question to people on whether EU trade deals with other countries throughout the world benefit Ireland.

A total of 75% responded in the affirmative so they agreed that EU trade deals with other countries around the world benefit Ireland, 17% did not know and 8% disagreed. The rate for Dublin was 75%, the rate for Leinster was 79%, and the rate for Munster, Connacht and Ulster was 72%. The Deputy is correct that we did not pose a question specifically on CETA but, again, this issue is certainly not going to go away. We look forward to putting the question, or some form of it, in future polls.

On the Deputy's question on a united Ireland, he is absolutely right. Our polling has indicated broadly similar answers on this question over recent years. A Kantar-Independent News and Media poll on 1 May showed that 67% of adults in the South support a united Ireland and that 16% are opposed to it. For Northern Ireland, the same poll shows 35% of adults are in favour of a united Ireland and 43% are against it, although, significantly, one in five did not express an opinion. That there are those who say they do not know or do not express an opinion highlights for us the importance and necessity of constructively engaging and having a conversation on this topic. The BBC LucidTalk poll showed 51% would vote for a united Ireland while 27% would vote against it. It is interesting to see the different figures in the various polls. It indicates that this is a topic whose importance is such that we have to engage on it. We must have a conversation on it in the North and South. We will certainly be doing that.

Reference was made to EU citizens in the North. As I am sure members will be aware, more than 700,000 people in Northern Ireland have an Irish passport and are therefore entitled to be and are EU citizens. At the national event to launch the Conference on the Future of Europe on Friday, 14 May, it was constructive and welcome to hear the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Taoiseach and the Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach, Deputy Thomas Byrne, all refer specifically and repeatedly in their opening remarks to the importance of focusing on and engaging with people in the North. We will do this in the Ulster citizens' dialogue. We will reach out to all community groups, political organisations, civil society groups, trade associations and sports clubs and encouraging them to help us spread the message. I hope some of their members will be interested in taking part. I assure them that we will be doing this very proactively. It is welcome to see that everyone from the Minister of State, Deputy Thomas Byrne, and the Minister for Foreign Affairs to the Taoiseach were at one on this.