Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

The Deputy is entirely correct the benefit of being able to jointly procure is real. It is real in terms of speed and value for money. She is also right that if we have learned anything over the recent period with a war on the Continent of Europe and the turbulent trade environment, it is that being more resilient as a European Union and the opportunities that gives us in terms of our security and defence - but also those economic opportunities to produce equipment within the European Union - are real. I am currently in discussions with the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment on how we look at the mandate of Enterprise Ireland to enable it to assist Irish SMEs that may well be able to do more in this space and wish to do more but perhaps have not been covered by the existing Enterprise Ireland mandate. There are huge opportunities for Irish businesses at a time when Europe is going to be spending a lot more in this space. I will ask the Minister to keep the Deputy updated on that too.

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