Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)

I am delighted to be able to speak in this debate. I wish the Minister of State the very best in his job. He will know my views from previous debates here when he was previously a Minister of State. It was interesting for me when I was sitting in the Chair for the last few minutes to listen to Deputies Lawless and Ward. We have to have a balanced debate. We have people in Ireland who think their voices are not being listened to and who believe the Government is not representing all of us. I am one of those people who wants to be able to ask questions about Europe's role, how it is behaving and about the EU spending on defence. Of course, that is necessary but we must cut our cloth according to measure. I honestly believe that while we are at the table and are an equal member in Europe, on this and many issues over the last number of years, including the Covid so-called pandemic which I do not believe it was, the EU dictated totally. There are huge questions to be asked about the whole situation regarding doctors here in Ireland who have concerns. They are genuine, qualified people - of course they are.

There are thousands of people out there who have issues with our ongoing and strong efforts to be at the top of the class in Europe. That is the difference between me and Deputy Lawless. I know we cannot tell people to go and get whatever else - it is not a nice thing to say - but we need to be heard. We need to stall the horses a bit here. We are and have always been a neutral country but the triple lock is now under question. The Taoiseach has said that our neutrality is an outdated concept.

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