Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to be associated with the tributes paid by Senator Martin and Leas-Chathaoirleach to the late Congressmen Brian Donnelly on his contribution to Ireland generally, in particular in the context of the Donnelly visas and his and his family's support for the peace process and building relations between Ireland and the United States.

I also want to praise my colleague, Senator Martin, who raised the question of the Antarctic Treaty. The Shackleton Museum is located in Athy and the treaty is important to the museum. Antarctica is a very vulnerable part of the world.It is important that the then Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney, gave a commitment to this House in December 2021 that Ireland would look at joining the Antarctic Treaty system. It speaks to our multilateralism and to the fact that many other European countries are members. I ask that this issue be raised with the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Micheál Martin.

I also raise a question about a report in the Irish Examinerby its defence correspondence, Sean O’Riordan. In fairness, the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence, Deputy Micheál Martin, is committed to expanding the Naval Service. However, I am deeply concerned about the figures now becoming available. At present, the Naval Service has personnel numbering about 770. To be operational it should have a minimum of 1,094 personnel. Apparently it now only has four ships that are operational and at times there is only one ship operating in our exclusive economic zone in order to defend Ireland’s exclusive economic zone, which is ten times the size of the country. We need to take the question of national security seriously. As I have stated previously, we are not in a position to defend our country by air and sea or if there is a cyberattack. We need to have a detailed, evidence-based debate on national security. I am particularly concerned about the current state of our Naval Service. I ask that the Leader facilitate such a discussion as soon as possible.