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

I can agree with the Deputy on something, which is his concern about the recognition of Jerusalem yesterday by the United States and the instability to which that may possibly lead. I made contact with the US Embassy to express our concern when we heard reports that it might happen and we strongly made our view known that we did not think it was a good idea at this time. Jerusalem is one of the permanent status issues to be settled in a final Middle East peace agreement and it is closely interlinked with other permanent status issues. They should all be resolved together through negotiation in the context of a broader peace deal, of which Ireland wants to be very supportive. It is regrettable that the announcements yesterday evening will make the achievement of that agreement much more difficult.

I do not agree with the Deputy on the attempt in this House by him and others to paint Permanent Structured Cooperation, PESCO, as something it is not. I am a former Minister for Defence and I have listened to many debates about this initiative. The truth is this is simply a structured initiative that allows member states to opt in and opt out of different projects, depending on what they are comfortable with. We have other non-aligned and neutral countries like Sweden, Austria and Finland that have already signed up. From an Irish perspective, this is an opportunity for us to essentially share resources and access other resources in areas where we are comfortable in co-operation. It is no more or no less than that and it will work on a case by case basis. I suspect we will want to use this in terms of counter-terrorism, peacekeeping and training, with other areas potentially including marine surveillance. This is so Ireland can be part of collective initiatives when it is appropriate in the context of the European Union.

As the Taoiseach stated yesterday, other countries will have a different view and they may want to get more involved in a more structured way in projects where we will not be involved. I ask the Deputy to call this what it is, as opposed to trying to create some kind of conspiracy that simply does not exist. This conversation has been happening since the Lisbon treaty and it is now something that is coming to finality following a long debate which has involved many countries, including neutral states, NATO members and others. Ireland, like others, insisted on language in setting up PESCO to ensure it is constitutional, that it does not undermine Irish neutrality and ensure the triple-lock still applies if we are to send troops to any other part of the world. From that perspective, we have tested this in the context of some of the questions asked by the Deputy. It does not undermine what is important to Irish people and to me, which is that Ireland remains non-aligned militarily and a neutral state.

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