Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)

I congratulate Deputy Costello on his appointment as Minister of State. We worked on the Oireachtas Joint Committee on European Affairs and I look forward to continuing our work. What the Minister of State has outlined is very welcome. I had the opportunity to read one of the excellent reports by Trócaire on the impact of the trade agreement between the EU and Colombia and Peru, to which Trócaire has outlined its opposition in clear and coherent terms. I raised this matter during a previous Question Time in the Dáil. There is concern about traditional support from the US and the UK in terms of military aid or aid to civilian components of the military there. There is concern that Ireland may be indirectly contributing to this through the EU. Are we aware of any EU programmes to which Ireland financially contributes that could in any way link us to supporting this type of initiative? This would be unwelcome.

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