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

I welcome the question on this and I would be happy to have a more detailed discussion, if that is what Members would like. Ireland has actively contributed to the development of the EU's new Indo-Pacific strategy, which was announced on the same day that this pact was announced. That is a source of real frustration for the EU because we did not even know that this pact was going to be announced in the first place. One EU member state, France, has been impacted significantly by this in respect of what it had thought was a contract and agreement with Australia to provide up to a dozen submarines over 30 years. The agreement was worth $40 billion or $50 billion, and they were not nuclear-powered submarines. The EU's new Indo-Pacific strategy seeks to reinforce the EU's role as a co-operative partner in the region.

Ireland shares the EU's concern at developments which increasingly threaten the stability and security of that region.

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