Tom Brabazon (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their clear presentations.

First, as a riposte to part of the contribution by Deputy Ó Laoghaire on the drug interdiction and the statement that it is potentially possible to get involved in drug interdiction without a change to the legislation, I would hate to be a prosecutor defending the legality of evidence brought before a court where this is brought up by a defence team.

One of our witnesses last week, Professor Ray Murphy, stated, "I consider that we have compromised our military neutrality by very close arrangements with NATO, the Partnership for Peace and so on", and:

Doing away with the requirement for a UN mandate is so fundamental that it will have a really dramatic impact on our participation in UN activities in the future and the perception of Ireland abroad ... The narrative sometimes is that the Russians and Chinese are vetoing Irish participation. They are not vetoing Irish participation but they are vetoing a UN security resolution for a potential force in a part of the world.

What do the witnesses have to say about that?