David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Apologies have been received from Deputy Anne Ferris. I ask that all mobile phones be turned off as they cause interference with recording equipment. The Minister will attend another meeting at 4 p.m., so our time here is limited. The purpose of this meeting is to consider the following motion which was referred by Dáil Éireann on 23 September 2015:

That Dáil Éireann approves Ireland’s accession to the memorandum of understanding concerning the principles for the establishment and operation of a battle group to be made available to the European Union in the second half of 2016.

I welcome the Minister for Defence, Deputy Simon Coveney and his officials to this meeting and invite the Minister to make his opening statement.