Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

If the Deputy would allow me to make my point, operational decisions have to be taken regarding strength and where we deploy. The EU battle group has very significant challenges. We have been part of these groups since 2000. I do not know whether the Deputy thinks we should be part of common security and defence policy at European level or not. We have been part of German-led battle groups on an ongoing basis. In UNIFIL we are now with a Polish battalion, Pol Batt. We have to have interoperability. Isolationism does not work for peacekeeping, peace enforcement or any other missions that we may be on.

We should have a broader debate on neutrality. In my capacity as Minister for Foreign Affairs we are doing some preliminary work which I would like to take to Government in respect of discussing the evolution of Irish foreign policy into the future and the question of neutrality. However we cannot do this in the context of a binary choice as to whether we join NATO or not. That is too simplistic. That is getting into the realm of the sound bite and the campaigning mantra. I am far more interested in a more sophisticated, deep-dive as to where we will be in ten or 20 years time regarding issues of cyber-security and hybrid threats to the country. For example, how do we protect our undersea cables with other EU states? I think 75% of all cables used in the West come through the Irish exclusive economic zone.