19 MFómh 2014, 15:56
The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade Chairman Pat Breen TD has said that transatlantic cooperation on security matters and on intelligence sharing should continue apace, in light of ongoing terrorist threats.
19 September 2014
Deputy Breen is attending the US House of Representatives’ Parliamentary Intelligence-Security Forum in Washington over the course of yesterday and today (Friday 19 September). The Forum involved members of Congress, experts from the intelligence community and parliamentarians from across Europe.
Earlier this week, Deputy Breen met with key players in the US Congress, including House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, on immigration reform.
Deputy Breen said “The Parliamentary Intelligence-Security Forum was a most timely conference, particularly given the worrying global backdrop posed by the rise of Islamic State of recent months. How best to share expertise in combatting this grave threat was high on the agenda. Senior parliamentarians considered how greater transatlantic partnership on security matters and on intelligence sharing might be fostered to face down these challenges. In frank and transparent discussions, our US counterparts also responded to European concerns about the impact on privacy and civil liberties following the leaking of confidential files by NSA contractor Edward Snowden.”
Media enquiries to:
Paul Hand,
Communications Unit,
Houses of the Oireachtas,
Leinster House,
Dublin 2
P: +3531 618 4484
M: +353 87 694 9926
Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade
Deputies:
Pat Breen, Fine Gael (Chairman)
Eric Byrne, Labour
Bernard Durkan, Fine Gael (Vice-Chairman)
Seán Crowe, Sinn Féin
Olivia Mitchell, Fine Gael
Gerald Nash, Labour
Dan Neville, Fine Gael
Brendan Smith, Fianna Fáil
Maureen O’Sullivan, Independent
Senators:
Mark Daly, Fianna Fáil
Lorraine Higgins, Labour
Michael Mullins, Fine Gael
David Norris, Independent
Jim Walsh, Fianna Fáil