Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have two brief questions for the Minister. There is a request in at the moment for a trip to South Sudan, which is currently being evaluated. Will the Minister provide some more information about the number of personnel who may be involved? This allows me to come back in on a question I have raised in the past - that is, the use of Lariam. We tabled a question which was disallowed today because of the suspension of a Member. Will the Minister give his position on that request?

I noted the Minister's comments on the triple lock. I have raised this issue in the past as spokesperson on this portfolio. I am somewhat concerned about the Minister's answer. Up to six months ago the Minister said that the triple lock was a valuable aspect of how we did our business and that he could not foresee any changes to it. I note he did not say that today. He is now saying that as part of the Green Paper we should consider our role within global affairs and whether there are unintended consequences of having the triple lock in place. This does not instill me with great confidence that there are no plans to get rid of that mechanism. Will the Minister clarify the position? If it is the case that the Minister's position is the same as it was six months ago and he cannot foresee any circumstances in which we would not have a triple lock mechanism in place, then it should probably be clarified here today. Anyone listening to the debate would have picked up the impression that it is possibly up for review as part of the Green Paper.

See this speech in context