Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I see the Deputy carried out that extensive research on the list of speakers at breakneck speed and I suggest that the research and the results thereof would probably require some independent verification so I am not going to take the results of his research as gospel here this morning, if he does not mind.

As a Government and as a country, we are very conscious that since Russia’s brutal and illegal war on Ukraine, on which some would question the Deputy’s response, international relations and the international security environment has changed. Unfortunately, there is, whether Deputy Barry likes it or not, an increase in the geopolitical risk and Ireland cannot be complacent. We need to discuss, to debate and to analyse our international security and neutrality in a measured manner. We need to listen to experts from Ireland and abroad.

Against that backdrop the consultative forum established by the Tánaiste on international security policy is being convened with a view to initiating an open and evidenced-based discussion on the State’s foreign and security policy.

I reject outright the Deputy’s assertion that this is about joining NATO or becoming some de facto member of NATO. It is absolutely not. That may suit the Deputy’s narrative and his megaphone political points but it is not about joining NATO, as some would suggest. There is no predetermined or preconceived outcomes from the discussion of the forum. Participants will be free to raise any relevant issues during deliberations. A consultative forum is designed to build public understanding and to generate discussion on the link between the State’s foreign, security and defence policies. That does not mean a rush to militarisation. It covers everything from cyber security, our own maritime security, international cables and in respect of all of those various things. Should there be another cyber attack here, Deputy Barry would probably be one of the first Deputies in the House to be jumping up and down to ask why we have not put the required resources into it. He would not apportion blame, however, as to who was behind it, I am certain, either.

The forum will discuss these issues in a broad policy context, including a focus on Ireland’s work to protect the rules-based international order through engagement in peacekeeping. We are very proud of the unbroken track record our Defence Forces have in peacekeeping right across this world, much of which Deputy Barry and his party does not support.

The forum will consider the lessons from our UN Security Council membership in this regard, the global strategic stability, international arms control, proliferation challenges, as well as the challenges posed by new and emerging threats. It will examine the threat landscape in relation to cyber, hybrid and critical infrastructure. The forum, as the Deputy knows, will be underway on 22 June at UCC, on 23 June at the University of Galway and on 26 and 27 June at Dublin Castle. The Deputy should not be afraid of debate or of listening to people with potentially differing views and I reject the Deputy’s assertion that in some way, shape or form the list of speakers is stacked.

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