Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister.

An ever-increasing amount of activity is being conducted online. Certainly, conflicts and threats will also continue to grow in this arena. As Minister for Defence of a contributing country to UN peacekeeping and peace enforcing missions, is the Minister confident that training and resources are available in our Defence Forces to adapt to this new reality? I draw the attention, or perhaps the memory, of the Minister to the committee meeting we had on the Estimates. I put it to the Minister that the amount being budgeted for technology was not reflective of modern defence forces. Given that we have one of the lowest, if not the lowest, GDP spend on defence in the EU, how does the Minister see the additional costs of this European fund and our growing need being financed?

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