Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

There has been much talk about the capture of the drugs vessel off the coast of Cork. We rightly commend the Defence Forces, the Garda, the Revenue and everyone else who was involved on their work. There was fantastic co-operation across the board. However, have we thought about what would have gone wrong if there had been weapons on board that ship and the helicopter involved in the operations had come under fire? Have we considered what would have happened if the helicopter had crashed into ship and the loss of life that would have occurred? The situation could have been worse than the Niemba massacre in the Congo. How can anybody hold his or her head high after running the Naval Service into the ground? The Cathaoirleach has expressed concerns to me about the Defence Forces. I know he does what he can in the background. How can anybody in Government circles and the Department hold their heads high and speak about the bravery of our gardaí and the members of our Defence Forces when we are running the system into the ground? We are buying hardware but for what? There is nobody to use it. Perhaps we could have a debate with the Minister for Defence at the Leader's convenience.

I must raise a second issue.