Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I think the Minister is playing with words. I did not ask him if there was an agreement. There are specific arrangements to be made if there is an agreement. If the Minister is saying there is no such arrangement, be it involuntary, informal or whatever way the Minister wants to put it, has he commissioned an investigation into the sources who are talking to media outlets, allegedly at a high level inside the Irish Defence Forces, with a very serious level of detail in these matters? Has he commissioned an investigation into where they have got their arrangement? Has he sought a review of the answers of his predecessor, the former Minister for Defence, Michael Smith, who seemed to indicate and verify some of these matters? These are highly serious issues in a country that proclaims to be neutral and if the Minister is denying that any such issue or arrangement exists at all, how does he see Ireland defending itself, as it were, in these scenarios since we well know that the current capacity of the Defence Forces would be incapable of withstanding such a situation? These are situations which have far-reaching effects for Irish citizens and our neutrality. We have to be open and honest about it and, frankly, the Minister in his answers is choosing to dodge the question he is being asked.

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