Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am not sure why there is no official record of these meetings. Part of my question concerns who represented Ireland and at what level from within the Department of Defence and the Army. Why is there no record of the meetings?

The Minister has agreed that Ireland is a neutral country. He has described it as "non-aligned" and said we are not neutral in regard to war. Like most Deputies, I certainly am not neutral in regard to any suffering but we are a neutral country and we should be using our voice for peace. Instead, we are participating in meetings led by NATO and the US regarding the military capabilities of Ukraine. I really would love the Minister to tell us how he is using his voice to stop this appalling illegal war. I fully agree with him that the attack on the shopping centre yesterday was absolutely despicable. However, we seem to be joining NATO in a piecemeal fashion. I put it like that because we are attending meetings that are unrecorded and in respect of which there are no data. We are not part of NATO.

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