Apologies have been received from Deputies Quinn and Mulcahy, Senator Bradford and Ms Avril Doyle, MEP.
The first item on the agenda is issues for discussion by the joint committee at a later date. In November 2004, the EU agreed to create 13 rapid reaction battle groups to be used in operations by 2007. Member states of the EU are deciding on their participation in battle groups, which has particular resonance for neutral countries like Ireland. This is relevant to the EU constitutional treaty on which we will decide, possibly this year, in terms of the general issue of militarisation and the wording within the EU constitution as it applies to this issue. It is unclear what our future is regarding this issue. It seems to have been shelved for the time being. The Government has made no definitive decision on it. It is worthy of deliberation by the committee. For that reason I put it on the agenda, but not necessarily to discuss it in full today. We asked the Minister for Defence to come to the committee. He could not attend today but he agreed to come and speak on this issue at some time in the future. There are plenty of academics who have ideas on the subject and have been vocal about it in the media recently. We could invite them to speak here as well. I propose that we put this formally on the agenda and invite the Minister.
The second issue was raised by Deputy Andrews last week. The President of the European Commission, Manuel Barroso, made it clear that the embargo on arms to China would be lifted. That has been clear for some time. Some people, including the Taoiseach, said this was inevitable. The Americans have accepted it. There are outstanding issues. I propose that Deputy Andrews inform us what is intended regarding any future hearings we have on this.
