Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

First, I would ask other parties to reflect when they call for a reduction in defence spending on the situation in which many of our troops find themselves in parts of the world and their requirement for the equipment and resources they need to ensure their safety. When I am making decisions to increase defence spending, people try to twist that into some kind of hawkish attitude towards defence on my part. The reason we are doing it is to ensure I can reassure families that have loved ones in places such as the Golan Heights, southern Lebanon, Mali and the Mediterranean that we have the best equipment and resources available to keep them safe.

I also have a responsibility to ensure we are constantly in conversation with the United Nations at headquarters level in New York to ensure there is an ongoing assessment of the UNDOF mission because it is constantly changing. Deputy Crowe is right to raise it. The civil war that is taking place in Syria is not only tragic for Syrians but also poses dangers to peacekeepers, but we have reconfigured this mission. At present, we have an engineering team to ensure all the resources and preparations are in place to ensure our soldiers are safe there. Within reason they are, but we need to keep a very close eye on it because what is happening on the Golan Heights is still quite unpredictable.

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