Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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446. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence if he has received a report from the Chief of Staff regarding his recent engagement with the Russian ambassador; if he sanctioned this high level contact in advance; the subject matters discussed; his views on the appropriateness of this engagement at this time; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4801/22]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The meeting between the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces on 21 January was one of series of routine courtesy meetings which the new Chief of Staff has been holding with foreign ambassadors and/or defence attachés since his appointment last September.

It is normal practice that foreign ambassadors and/or defence attachés would pay routine courtesy calls on a newly appointed Chief of Staff. Since his appointment, the Chief of Staff has met ambassadors or defence attachés from a number of countries and a number of other similar meetings are scheduled for the coming weeks.

Decisions concerning meetings between the Chief of Staff and foreign ambassadors is a matter for the Chief of Staff.

As this meeting was a routine courtesy meeting, which had been scheduled for some time, and one in a series of such meetings, there is no suggestion that its timing was planned to coincide with any announcement of Russian military exercises off the Irish coast or recent Russian troop movements on the Ukrainian border.

I subsequently discussed the meeting with the Chief of Staff.  It is not the practice generally to disclose the detail of the discussions conducted in the course of diplomatic engagements.  However, this was purely a courtesy call and I can confirm that there was no discussion in the course of this meeting about the forthcoming Russian naval exercises in the Atlantic.