Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for that response. I commend everybody in his Department and in our Defence Forces who have been proactive in supporting our citizens in Sudan. I also join the Minister in thanking our European neighbours for their assistance. The obvious question that arises is how we can be better positioned in the time ahead, in instances like this, to be able to contribute to such multilateral efforts to evacuate citizens, when required. Although this crosses Departments, there has been reference to the fact that a down payment has been made in respect of a cargo plane that would have the capacity to go into places like Sudan and return citizens. Is the Minister in a position to give us an update on whether we are close to having that in our possession?

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