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

I take that point but the Irish Defence Forces are really good at what they do. I am very proud of them. It is why we are constantly exploring how the Defence Forces can contribute more to international affairs through peace building, peacemaking, peace interventions and so on.

I reassure the House that we are not part of a creeping militarisation policy in the European Union. We have never been part of that kind of thinking and we are still not part of it. Before Irish troops are sent anywhere abroad, they need to go through the triple lock system, which people understand.

We are currently contributing to a thought process and asking ourselves a question as to whether the EU, as a collective, has the ability to be able to intervene in crises quickly to save lives. I am interested in that. This is not about the creation of a European army. We already have battle groups, which is an unfortunate name but it is essentially a mechanism where countries train with each other to have the capacity to respond to a crisis should it be required. They have never been deployed, despite the process going back to 2004 or 2005.

I reassure people that we will be cautious in how we approach this question. It will be approached from the perspective of Ireland's traditional contribution to crisis management and peacekeeping.

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