Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is extremely important that we review issues that have arisen over the past 12 months and ask ourselves on what road are we proceeding. Tomorrow members of this committee go to Stockholm to the parliamentary conference on European security and defence. We will see the priorities of Sweden's Presidency, which is to strengthen the role of the European Union as a security actor not only in the neighbourhood but beyond and then the acceleration of the implementation of the strategic compass.

This ensures a greater level of EU co-operation with key partners both within the EU and indeed NATO.

To refer to what Deputy Brady said people are saying, I think any reasonably person looking at Ireland over the past 12 months, would regard the unacceptable invasion of Ukraine by Russia as a wake-up call for everybody, including Ireland. Our geographic position has stood us in good stead. The fact that NATO, of which we are not a member, continues to provide security guarantees for our neighbours in western Europe, could be interpreted as providing us with a luxury to avoid taking difficult positions and making difficult choices. Undoubtedly, as the Minister has said on numerous occasions, we share a community interest with and in the European Union. Our relationship with the US, for example, is central, not only to our well-being but also to our security, and membership of the European Union brings certain responsibilities to actively engage in the Common Security and Defence Policy, CSDP, and beyond. To come back to Senator Craughwell's question, which is really the same question as that posed by Deputy Brady, are we looking seriously at our security situation now in the context of war in Europe? Are we looking at changes for example that have taken place within EU member states? I refer particularly to Finland, Sweden and indeed to the referendum in Denmark last year which was a direct consequence of the situation in Ukraine. It has not really been the subject matter of discussion here in so far as what that means for our non-alignment and active engagement with EU colleagues and in terms of intensified and increased obligations that are going to be placed on the State in years to come. We are here to discuss the Foreign Affairs Council but looking back, every meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council over the past 12 months has been dominated primarily by the situation in Ukraine. What exactly does that mean for us in Ireland as a fully-fledged member of the European family and the European Union, in terms of our security and defence priorities?