Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

We are not doing so. We are absolutely not. We are getting rid of our neutrality bit by bit.

We recently had a 45-minute limited discussion with a guillotine on the European Defence Agency and the European Defence Fund. I understand from comments in the media that representatives of the European Defence Agency fund were recently wined and dined in Ireland and entertained by members of the Government to facilitate the arms industry in the future. It was probably naive of me to think the Government might see sense and not see the motion as a risk or danger, but rather as an open invitation to stand together to assert our policy of neutrality in a world that greatly needs our voice.

12 o’clock

To conclude, I return to the Tánaiste condemning Russia and not a mention of Israel. That undermines our credibility as a neutral State.

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