Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)

I wish to go back to the exact wording of the European Council because it is very important. Paragraph 30, which relates to all of the defence conclusions, states: "The above is without prejudice to the specific character of the security and defence policy of certain Member States, and takes into account the security and defence interests of all Member States, in accordance with the Treaties". That is a specific mention to Irish, Austrian, Cypriot and Maltese neutrality.

Member states do feel a threat. If you go to Lithuania, Poland or Finland, you will see cross-party support on all sides of the houses for their own sovereign decisions to pay and invest in their defence to ensure they are secure from the threat of Russia. If the Deputy is criticising Irish taxpayers' money going to the defence industry, the Irish Government will be spending a lot of money on our defence industry and I am glad to see Sinn Féin has seemed to change tack on that today. It seems to now support increased spending on defence from an Irish perspective. It is coming to the Fianna Fáil policy of protecting, but also investing, in neutrality.

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