Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I reassure the Senator about her concerns on autonomous weapons and their danger, particularly as regards civilian populations and human rights. That is why we are working on and leading a unified EU response to the issue. The EU is also reviewing the regulation of autonomous weapons in working parties. We can be more flexible by using the list-based system because with technology changing so quickly, changing and updating legislation may allow a lacuna to arise and some of these new technologies to get through. That could be an unintended consequence of what the Senator is trying to achieve. The list-based system allows the flexibility and speed that we need in the face of such advancing technology.