Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I can repeat and absolutely confirm that Ireland's neutrality will not be impacted by our membership of PESCO. In fact, we were one of the last countries to sign up to it and that was because officials in the Department were making absolutely sure that there was no possible way that our neutrality could be compromised or that the work we do could be impacted in any way by PESCO. I can give the Deputy that assurance. We will be focusing on continuing our peacekeeping missions, strengthening co-operation with member states and looking at projects in areas like maritime surveillance and cybersecurity. These are the types of missions on which we will be focusing while also enhancing the capabilities of our Defence Forces here in Ireland. I am happy to give the Deputy the reassurance he seeks.

See this speech in context