Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I do not accept the Deputy's assertions and I definitely do not accept his assertion that Operation Sophia is a military operation. I accept that we are part of a different mission now. We were part of Operation Pontus, which was independent of ourselves, and we are now part of the EU-mandated mission. This mission operates under the triple lock and went through Government and the Dáil, as well as being mandated by the UN. It is not a military mission. We are still saving lives on the Mediterranean and will continue to do so. I am very proud of the work we did under Operation Pontus, as I am of the work we are now doing under Operation Sophia. There are different dimensions to the current mission, such as in the fact that we are training the Libyan coastguard and have people in mission headquarters.

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