I met my Polish counterpart, the Secretary of State for European Affairs, Mr. Ignacy Niemczycki, in Warsaw on 13 March. This was the first of many engagements I had during my three-day St. Patrick's Day programme in Poland, which was followed with a visit to Ukraine and then to Moldova. The Secretary of State, Mr. Niemczycki, and I discussed the excellent bilateral relations between our two countries, including growing economic ties and the outstanding and wide contribution the large Polish community is making in I…

What the Polish people have done in supporting refugees from Ukraine, as well as giving military support, has been extraordinary. At the start of the war people arrived off trains or off transport and were met on the platforms by Polish residents and brought to their homes. We can account for millions of people who have benefited from that. There is a strong desire in Poland to see Ukraine accede to the European Union. I have had much conversation on this topic with counterparts, with the chargé d'affaires here, an…

Belarus is an issue of considerable concern to the Polish Government. The Deputy is right. It is a major security concern for them. I think pretty much all of the major figures in the Belarusian opposition are based in Warsaw at the invitation of the Polish Government, so there is a strong link between them. At all levels of government, be it with Prime Minister Tusk, the Taoiseach, Deputy Prime Minister Sikorski, the Minister, Deputy McEntee, the Secretary of State Mr. Niemczycki, and myself, we have a very good r…

The Minister of State, Deputy Dooley, was busy today because not only was the school here on his behalf, but Councillor Cronin and his colleagues were meeting him as well. In less than four months' time, on 1 July 2026, Ireland will take on the Presidency of the Council of the European Union for the eighth time. As the Taoiseach has made clear, our EU Presidency will be "a Presidency defined by action". The Government has set out a clear commitment to deliver a successful EU Presidency in 2026. By working with our …

Gabhaim buíochas leis na Seanadóirí go léir as cad atá ráite acu anseo sa Seanad. Tá áthas orm go bhfuil daoine dearfach faoin Uachtaránacht agus go bhfuil tuairimí acu ar conas gur féidir linn an Eoraip agus ár dtír féin a chur chun cinn i rith na hUachtaránachta. I thank the Senators for their contributions here today. There is a huge range of issues and forgive me if there were certain aspects mentioned or not mentioned. When you have ten minutes, it is almost impossible to get everything in but I have listened …

The Senator said the European Union cares little for who lives or dies.

The reality of the situation is that the European Union is founded on the idea that people care about who lives and dies; people care about who lives. We can look at the foundation of the European Coal and Steel Community. It was literally founded so that the coal and steel industries would be merged so you could not make weapons to fight against each other. That is literally why the European Union was made One of the people who was responsible for the founding of the European Union, to Senator Mullen's point, was …

You never mentioned the Irish citizens.

I think it is €18 billion.

I may not take all my time. Hopefully, I can answer many of the questions that have been raised. I thank Senators not only for their contributions and insights, but for having an ongoing focus on issues of security and defence. It is important. I acknowledge references made in different guises to the implementation of the recommendations of the Commission on the Defence Forces. The security landscape has changed significantly in this country since this report was published. Yesterday, we marked the fourth anniversa…

Ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghabháil leis an Teachta as ucht an t-ábhar seo. Increasing the provision of disability specialist residential services is a key Government priority and there has been significant investment in residential services over the course of the last number of years. The overall budget increase in recent years, from €1.7 billion at the close of 2017 to almost to €3.8 billion in 2026, reflects the programme for Government commitment to investing in improving the lives of people with disabilities. I…

I will gladly ask the Minister of State, Deputy Higgins, who cannot be here, to send that exact information to all the Deputies and representatives in Fingal. That is a reasonable request but I just do not have it to hand.

Once again, I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue, which is a priority for the Government. The Government recognises that there is more to do to improve the lived experience of those with a disability. The increase in the disability budget for 2026 further demonstrates the multiple commitments made in the programme for Government commitment to improving the lives of people with disabilities and making a difference. The ambition of this Government is to bring about a step change in services for people …

I will take this question on behalf of the Minister. I reassure the Deputy that the regeneration of the Naval Service is one of the key priorities for the Minister and the Department. To that end, the Minister has had detailed discussions with the Chief of Staff on the need for a regeneration report on the Naval Service. The Defence Forces are working to have this report completed in the coming weeks. In relation to recent events the Deputy mentioned, I can confirm that during Storm Chandra, the LÉ Aoibhinn suffere…

The Deputy asked specifically about the LÉ Gobnait . That ship is scheduled to enter service in the third quarter of this year. We acknowledge that it would have been preferable to have it in service much sooner. It is the case, however, that the readiness and capability of and the activities carried out by the Naval Service have increased substantially over the past year. Work in that regard is going to continue. The Government has acknowledged that we have come from a low base of capabilities and that some capabi…

Thankfully, there was no more serious damage. The damage was minor in nature. The Naval Service remains satisfied that Carlisle Pier meets its needs. It has pointed out that the berth has recently been refitted with a modern fendering system, which should add to our ships' ability to withstand damaging impacts. In relation to the potential use of Carlisle Pier as the new forward operating base, the Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces calls for the development of an east coast base for the Naval Service. …

I will answer this one on behalf of the Minister. As the Minister has already set out, the defence (amendment) Bill is included in the Government legislative programme for priority publication. There are also some other amendments to the Defence Acts in the legislation. What the triple lock legislation or the defence (amendment) Bill will do is remove the requirement for the UN Security Council mandate because, quite frankly, it is almost impossible to get one and we do not know what the UN Security Council will sa…

We want to make sure our Defence Forces can, first of all, engage in their primary function, which is the protection of the security of the State and, when called upon, to go abroad to serve as peacekeepers, as they have honourably done. Removing the triple lock will not change this in any way. There are many neutral countries and I do not think any of them have as restrictive a law as we do. I agree with Deputy Duncan Smith who said we must protect our neutrality. I was in Switzerland last week when the subject of…

The reason we have a constitutional amendment is if we want to change the Constitution. We are not changing the Constitution, it is simply changing legislation. What was agreed at Lisbon is still in the Constitution by virtue of the protocol to the Lisbon treaty. This does not affect it in any way. I am quite sure that whatever referendum the Government would put forward on Europe or defence, Sinn Féin would oppose it as it has opposed every one of them over the years, but what was agreed by the people in the Lisbo…

I thank the Deputy for the question. I will start by recognising the importance of the Reserve Defence Force to the State. In the past few years, we have witnessed a revitalisation of the Reserve. The strength of the Reserve Defence Force, as of the end of 2025, was 204 first-line Reserve personnel and 1,612 second-line Reserve personnel, which is comprised of 1,481 Army Reserve personnel and 131 Naval Service Reserve personnel. The priority of Government is the modernisation of our Defence Forces and revitalising …