Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)

We are obviously in support of ensuring that we have a sufficient amount of capacity in our Defence Forces. We also need to ensure that we have the capacity to deal with some of the hybrid threats that are in the world that we have to deal with at this point of time. That is everything from cyber to the issue of disinformation, whether organised or disorganised, and the huge harm they can cause. When we are dealing with artificial intelligence, it is about having a sufficient amount of protection across Europe while, at the same time, still having the capacity to use AI into the future.

I have another issue I wish to ask the Minister of State about. What can be done to reassure farmers about the detrimental impact of Mercosur and ensure we maintain the nitrates derogation? I also remind the Minister of State about the issue of John NcNeela's pension because it is something that needs to be addressed.

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