Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Trade and security are intermingled. In an Irish context, we face many challenges. Issues relating to Brexit have not gone away but these are small issues compared with the deterioration in EU-US trade relations in areas such as tariffs, subsidies and digital trade rules. We have challenges too with China in the context of market access, intellectual property issues, etc. The supply chain disruptions from Covid-19 have not totally disappeared either. As well as that, we need to make a green transition. There is a huge uncertainty about the pace of change. In the absence of certainty and irrespective of the genuine and pressing changes that are required, businesses, trade and ordinary people suffer.

On the security side, there is the Russia-Ukraine war. We need to continue to assist the Ukrainians as best we can. However, Ireland and Europe were already facing issues around energy security and cyber threats from Russia and other bad actors even before the Trump Administration started sowing global chaos. We all know about the troll farms in Russia and elsewhere. In the context of all these challenges, what should we be focusing on? In Ireland, we have a moral role to play in continuing to call out the Israeli Government for the atrocities it has perpetrated, to implement the occupied territories Bill and to continue to seek a just peace. There are multiple other areas in respect of which we could show leadership but which I do not have the time to mention.

Economically, we need to diversify our export markets, reduce our dependency on unreliable trading partners and enhance supply chain resilience at EU level to ensure that we have both access to materials closer to home and energy self-sufficiency.

Going back to what previous speakers said, we need to upgrade our defensive capabilities. UN Security Council vetoes have hampered our historic peacekeeping role. Perhaps we need to look at a new type of triple lock, equally resilient and respecting our neutrality but not involving the UN Security Council, particularly one of the triple locks has effectively been glued shut.

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