Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will watch it. It is always wonderful to have an opportunity to tell Chairpersons, who spend most of their time telling everybody else to try to keep a time limit, to do likewise.

I thank the Taoiseach for his engagement. I was recently appointed Chair of the Joint Committee on European Affairs. Recently, our work has been on two areas which no one will find surprising. The first and primary area in which we have been engaged is enlargement. We have carried out a series of engagements. Delegations appeared at the committee and we also had the opportunity to meet others on visits to the home states of applicant countries. There is a good reaction to Ireland in this process because this country is perceived as being very supportive of the enlargement process. That is particularly the case in the areas on which we have been working recently, namely, the western Balkans, the eastern partnership trio and, obviously, Ukraine, on which we have had a number of engagements. Having engaged in the Oireachtas and with applicant states' Parliaments, I am interested in hearing the Taoiseach outline the Government’s view on enlargement, with a particular emphasis what we are doing in regard to Ukraine’s situation.

The other area, which is topical and falls within the area we are discussing, is security and defence. Even this week, the committee had some speakers before us to discuss the issue. We are focusing on the European Union side of the issue and co-operation on security and defence issues within Europe.

I gather this will come up for discussion at next week's European Council meeting. If it is coming up for discussion, I am interested to know about what we are doing on this forum and our interest in the area of enhanced international security policy in the European context.