Gerard Craughwell (Independent)

As someone who lives in Kildare, I know the Deputy Leader is very much aware of the Defence Forces and everything to do with them. It is a matter of concern to me that Ireland is one of the few countries that did not apply for the funding that was made available through the EU SAFE fund, with €150 billion set aside to assist countries to bring their militaries up to speed given the level of threat that exists in the world today. As we approach Ireland's Presidency of the Council of the European Union, in light of the shutting down of Copenhagen Airport as a result of drone activity and given that other members of the European Union have provided naval service support for Denmark during its Presidency, we need to have a debate in this House - now is the time to do it - to establish exactly what plans we have to ensure dignitaries arriving into the country can land in Baldonnel Airport and can be securely transported into Leinster House, Dublin Castle or wherever meetings will take place.Similarly, we need to know what protections are in place for our skies. As the Deputy Leader knows, the air defence regiment was stood down in 2012 and we do not have one at this point in time. If somebody decides to come in here with drones, what are we going to do about them? How are we going to keep the airport open? We saw the catastrophe of the joint cyberattack and bomb scare at terminal 2 in Dublin Airport a couple of weeks ago. If I am not mistaken, 600 flights were cancelled over that period. I ask that we have a debate with the Minister for Defence to establish exactly where we are going as we approach the Presidency of the Council of the European Union.