Séamus McGrath (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Tánaiste's response. As I outlined earlier in terms of the importance of defence and protecting our territorial waters, the role of the Naval Service has expanded quite a lot in recent years in terms of maritime surveillance, protecting our marine assets, deterring criminal activity and smuggling and so on. It is welcome that we have a number of vessels at our disposal. I heard earlier that the direction of travel regarding recruitment and so on seems very positive, even though we are a bit short in terms of our overall headcount. The priority this Government is giving defence is very welcome, and I welcome the Tánaiste's role in that. I ask that he continues to prioritise defence, particularly the Naval Service, as we are an island nation and it is critically important for us.

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