Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will raise a similar matter regarding PESCO. We debated it before the Christmas break. Assurances were given by the Tánaiste, the Minister of State and others. Will the Minister of State ensure that those commitments will be lived up to so that our personnel who are serving on UN missions will not be asked to do anything that would infringe upon the highly respected role that we have developed around the world?

We are respected far and wide because we are a neutral country. I hope we will not be sucked into any of the areas against which we railed during that debate. I certainly opposed it and voted against it. In that context, I ask the Minister of State to reassure us that our personnel will be respected. I refer in particular to the Naval Service and commend it on the great work that it is doing out at sea, trying to rescue massive numbers of unfortunate people who have, in some cases, been tricked and duped and who had to pay money to get onto totally unsafe, makeshift boats. We have all seen the consequences of that and I commend the Naval Service on its work in that area.

On the matter of Gaza, we need to take a more upfront role because of our respected position internationally. We must heed the humanitarian crisis that exists there and the Taoiseach, if he is visiting, must engage in an even handed fashion. We must respect the result of the election, unlike many other countries.

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