Maeve O'Connell (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I echo the welcome from everybody else to the Chair. I look forward to working with her over the term. I am a first-time TD so this is literally my first committee meeting. I listened to contributions and the Cathaoirleach's opening statement with great interest. I echo some of the comments that we need a greater discussion around neutrality. There is a lot of confusion and misunderstanding as to what it means for us now, what it meant for us in the past and what it might mean for us in the future. A core part of our agenda should be to create clarity on that and bring in the range of views and expertise around that, which can inform our wider discussion around the triple lock, which is very important.

I also welcome the Cathaoirleach's statement that a key role of this committee is to support our Defence Forces.

I want to include in that the full range of our Defence Forces, which also includes, as we have mentioned, our Air Corps and our Naval Service, which seriously need support as well, and our Reserve Defence Force. As one of the first female members in the Army Reserve, it has a place in my heart and I would like us to review it and refresh that as well. I also want us to consider the role of our Civil Defence. Everybody plays a part in the security and defence of this island. We need to have a wide brush, as others mentioned, because just looking at certain sections in a narrow way is not going to give us the full perspective we need in order to ensure for future generations, as was mentioned also, that we are doing the right things in this committee.