Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach. I echo the calls of Senators Chambers, McDowell and others for the debate on our Defence Forces. What is happening at the moment exposes the fact that Ireland on its own cannot deal with this. I agree with comments made by Senator Craughwell and others that this is not a neutral country. We are a non-aligned country and I am very proud that we have a non-aligned foreign policy. We have to be very clear, however, because on issues such as human rights abuses and attacks on the sovereignty of other countries, we cannot be neutral. We have to provide support for them. Human rights, incidentally, apply just as much within the European Union as they do on a wider basis, and we should be speaking out about them. Our foreign policy can never be neutral and we should not be afraid to speak out.

I also support my colleague, Senator Cassells's remarks about a properly funded public sector media.

I also want to raise the point about the economic battle at the moment, where Ireland’s model traditionally used to be one of tax and talent. The tax thing is somewhat to one side now, so it is about a global battle for talent at this point in time. We are seeing the workplace changing more quickly to the point that in the next decade, 65% of current jobs are likely to be either redundant or significantly changed. We have talked before about all of the jobs that are in demand around data scientists, looking at artificial intelligence, AI, cyber security, and so on. We need to look at having a debate in the context of the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science and its long-term strategy on how it is going to reskill and upskill all of our citizens to be able to cater for that. Retail banking as we know it, for instance, is dead but we have very skilled workers in the banking sector and we need to upskill and reskill them to be able to take advantage of the new opportunities. We need a big debate around the future of work and what we, as a State, are doing to upskill and reskill our citizens to avail of it.