asked the Minister for Defence if the Defence Forces have been issued with instructions to deal with the provocative incursions of British Crown Forces into the national territory.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Violations of National Territory.
91.
I assume that the Deputy is referring to the accidental Border infringements by British troops which were the subject of a reply by the Minister for External Affairs to Questions Nos. 12 and 13 on the 14th instant.
Operational instructions have been given to the Defence Forces as to the procedures to be adopted in the case of such incidents.
Could the Minister state whether he has received to date an apology from the British Government for the intrusion——
That is a separate matter.
——of British troops into Irish territorial waters today?
That is a matter for the Department of External Affairs.
Would the Minister not agree that British soldiers are in the national territory and that the question really refers—it is improperly worded—to incursions from across the Border which, I agree with the Minister, were entirely accidental? Is that not the case?
What is the question?
The Deputy is making excuses for them.
Will the Minister not agree that British Crown Forces, to use the words in the question, are, in fact, in the national territory all the time? The question, in fact, relates to accidental breaches of the Border by the British forces.
That is a separate matter.
We do not want to have occupying forces in any part of our territory.
Can the Minister say what was the attitude of his Department to the arrival of 24 British troops in combat dress in Dún Laoghaire this morning?
Question No. 92.
Will the Minister not agree that during the Emergency those of us who were stationed along the Border accidently crossed the Border on numerous occasions and nobody kicked up a row about it?