Peter Kelly (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)

I join my colleagues in paying tribute to the two young airmen who died so tragically last Monday week. May they rest in peace. Their death is a reminder of the risks our men and women in uniform take in service of our country, both here and on peacekeeping missions abroad. Our thoughts and prayers are with their families, comrades and friends at this most difficult and traumatic time.

I am delighted to speak in favour of this legislation, which will greatly aid the Defence Forces in developing their capability to serve the causes of peace and justice in support of the United Nations. As all of us who were out and about knocking on doors as part of the recent Lisbon treaty campaign will know, our defence and military neutrality policies were an important consideration for many voters. The guarantees secured by the Government helped dispel many of the groundless and unnecessary fears raised by those on the "No" side.

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