Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

This question is similar to my earlier one but such is the bounce of the ball in the Priority Question lottery. It relates to the nomination of the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces to the position of chair of the European Union military committee. When the nomination was announced, the Minister of State told us proudly that Ireland is one of the strongest contributors to common security and defence policy operations and that the nomination provides a positive and valuable profile for Ireland in the area of security and defence within the EU. Ireland is a neutral country. Raising our profile in the EU for security and defence is neither positive nor valuable.

I would like the Minister of State to critique how he can justify that in the context of our stated neutrality.

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