Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Last year, the EU made proposals on establishing a European defence fund. This fund consists of two financial structures: a research window to fund collaborative defence research projects at EU level and a capability window to support the joint development of defence capabilities commonly agreed by member states. This will be financed through the pooling of national contributions and, where possible, supported by an EU budget.

There are also proposals to foster investment in SMEs, startups, mid-caps and other suppliers to the defence industry as a key part of this. Clearly, it represents a large opportunity for Irish SMEs. What is the Government doing to make Irish companies aware of this potential and will the Minister of State provide further detail of the liaisons he has had with other Departments on this matter?

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