One of the areas we are quite concerned about is our reputation for being coherent and trusted within the European Union. To be clear, the Labour Party has been consistently opposed to the Mercosur deal on the basis of its impact on climate and the potential impact on workers' rights. The European Trade Union Confederation has been very strong on this for a number of years. Unfortunately, our Government has been anything but coherent in terms of its own approach. The Taoiseach himself stated that progress was being made towards a deal. He was speaking in the context of the farming and agricultural element of it. It then all fell down, to a point where some commentators said Ireland had lost a good and valuable ear on the floor that matters in Brussels. It is not so much the position but the incoherence. It is what we are saying privately versus what we are saying publicly. One of the Government's own MEPs is even backing the deal in direct opposition to his own Government. What does that say about the coherence of Irish policy when it comes to the European Council? How trusted will we be, especially as we are in the midst of an international security crisis? On security, I need to touch on our own airspace and how it is being used by the United States. The Minister, Deputy McEntee, confirmed that the US Embassy was contacted after it emerged that two US aircraft had flown over Irish sovereign airspace while tracking a ship in the North Atlantic that had attempted to collect oil from Venezuela last month. I understand that the embassy insisted it had complied with the 1959 agreement, but we are not sure or do not have confirmation that it did. Indeed, the Minister has not said that our State granted permission for those flyovers, as per the agreement. As the Minister of State knows, we have been far behind the ball on our own security for far too long. Our radar capabilities are non-existent, although the Government is making moves on that. I do not dispute that in any way. However, we needed to put out a call for assistance from European allies for the visit of President Zelenskyy recently. There are significant questions still hanging over what happened in relation to the drones that hovered just over the Irish Sea upon President Zelenskyy's approach, which raises huge concerns. I wanted to ask as well about our ability to track the Russian "sanction busting" shadow fleet. With the turmoil in Venezuela, what is happening in Iran, the threats President Trump is now making towards Cuba and what seems impending in relation to Greenland, the North Atlantic theatre in which Ireland is physically based is a centre of this instability. We need to be sure Ireland has the ability to monitor our own borders and our exclusive economic zone. The invasion of Venezuela and capture of Maduro, as illegitimate a president as he was, has obviously further shaken the international order. What level of discussions are taking place with EU leaders on this situation? Is the Government frustrated by the EU's constant monitoring of situations with little or no actions to actually back them up? It seems we are still grappling with a world where a former ally to Europe, the United States, is now acting if not like an enemy, then as a country that cannot be considered a trusted ally any more. The EU cannot continue to stay silent, particularly as Greenland is next in President Trump's crosshairs. How much discussion has taken place about Greenland and what will happen with troops if the sovereign territory of Greenland is taken over by the United States? This is a key question for Ireland: are we prepared to abolish the 1959 agreement and ban US military planes once and for all from landing in Shannon Airport if the US takes Greenland by force or supplantation, which is of course EU territory in relation to Denmark? On national security, would the Minister of State agree that the level of disinformation peddled through the algorithms on social media is a risk to our functioning democracy? I know we mentioned Russia and the threat of Russia in terms of cybersecurity. There is a huge and ongoing threat from Russia but there is a comparable threat from China. All we have to do is get briefings from our own National Cyber Security Centre about that. I know the Government had a huge visit to China. That was lauded by the likes of Clare Daly, but China is a threat when it comes to cybersecurity. I want to know at what level are we, as a nation with our EU partners, tackling China in relation to their cybersecurity and other threats?

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