Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

Oh dear. Some of the Members who sit in the top rows in this Chamber can never quite get away from obsessing about countries that are supposed to be the enemy - if it is not Israel, it is the United States. No searches were carried out at the request of the United States. Ireland is a sovereign State and the United States does not request or direct the Defence Forces or Garda Síochána to do anything of any description. Any engagements of the Defence Forces were in the context of their assistance to the civil power and Garda Síochána.

The sad reality is that a substantial amount of public money was spent on two very successful visits as a consequence of the conduct of small groups who engaged in conduct which posed a serious risk to the success of the visits and safety of our visitors. If that had not been a concern, much of the money would have been saved. The Department of Defence and Defence Forces operate in a very careful and efficient manner and the funding that was used in the context of the visit with regard to the Department can be dealt with in the Defence Forces Estimate without any difficulty. It will not result in any cutback in services of any description, as provided by the Department.

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