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

Let us leave media reports aside. The British armed forces minister, Mr. James Heappey, told Westminster:

RAF jets have deployed into Irish airspace on occasion. It is for the Irish Government to set out their policy on why, when and how.

All I am asking is for the Tánaiste to set out the Irish Government's position, which unfortunately is as clear as mud because we are hiding behind the veneer of national security. The Irish people are entitled to know if our capabilities in terms of radar – I welcome the progress made in this respect – and our Air Corps mean we are not in a position to meet what is a basic requirement of our Defence Forces, which in the first instance is to monitor activity that is taking place in our skies and our seas, and are instead relying on others to do this pivotal work. We will then be able to work together on planning to ensure that we have the capacity to deal with these issues.

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