Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I asked the Minister if he has examined how this will impact the Defence Forces' resources and capabilities and I will take it from his reply that he has not yet done that. He is proposing to feed into the Department of the Taoiseach and its overall committee on Brexit.

The Minister's response is quite insufficient. We cannot wait around. I appreciate that we do not know how or when Britain will exit the European Union but we must at least be ready for it. We must be realistic about the possibility of there being a hard border. Whether we like it or not, being a member of the European Union that borders a non-EU country brings with it certain responsibilities. It will not just be up to Ireland to decide how that works. I suggest to the Minister of State that his Department really examine what resources the Defence Forces will need and and how the arrangement may operate. Nobody wants to go there but we have to be prepared to react if what is possible occurs. It is massively insufficient at this point that the Minister has not acted in this regard.

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