The Tánaiste said this does not come under the aegis of his Department, and that is true. However, it is also true that the Department set up a meeting for this association with the CEO of the European defence association. If it is to set up meetings of that kind, the least the Department can do is come clean and be public about who attended the meetings and who the affiliates of the defence association he has spoken about are. The Tánaiste is correct to say that the arms industry is on the rise in Europe. I do not think we should be part of that, but I would like to get the answers to my questions.
]]>The protest movement in the United States certainly would have been boosted had the Taoiseach boycotted the events last week. However, even if he had not, and had made a criticism of Biden and the US, as Sally Rooney says, not just of the bombers but those supplying the bombs, the protest movement would have been boosted as well. It is a pity that he failed to do so.
On the point he challenged me on, I do not think he has right on his side there.
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