The Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs, Trade and Defence met this morning in the Dáil Chamber. The statement of strategy of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for the period 2015 to 2017 refers to strengthening our influence in the European Union, to the United Nations and so on, but it makes no mention of Irish neutrality, which is worrying in the context of the Union's relentless progress towards militarisation. The President of the European Commission, Mr. Jean-Claude Juncker, has spoken about the need to move towards common military assets, which is about people making money from the sale of hardware. That the statement of strategy of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade neglects to mention our stated position on neutrality reflects badly on the Government. There is no point talking about it; it must be stated in black and white. The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Charles Flanagan, was unable to explain why departmental officials had not included in the strategy a reference to our stated position on neutrality. The reply I received when I raised the matter at the committee was that the statement of strategy was not solely a policy document but an articulation of how we intended to implement our programme, which is straight out of the top drawer of Sir Humphrey's manual on how to reply to a question without actually giving a reply.

We have spoken at length in this House about the issue of Brexit. I understand the issue is being discussed this week in Europe. The stance we have taken on it is in no way as aggressive as that of other EU countries such as France in terms of the manner in which they are pursuing businesses based in London or throughout the European Union that are uncertain about their future because of Brexit. EU institutions based in England are also being pursued by other European countries. We need a strategy that will enable us to pursue EU institutions and businesses located in England in the same manner as other EU countries are doing.

On my original point about Irish neutrality not being mentioned as a core principle in the statement of strategy of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for the period 2015 to 2017, members of the Fine Gael Party also expressed disappointment at the lack of reference to it in the Department's strategy.

Following on from Senator Mark Daly's contribution, I attended a conference on Brexit in Brussels last week, a central part of which was the need to develop a European army. I recall making the statement at the time that if the European Union moved to do so, another country, namely, Ireland, would be exiting the Union.

I call on the Leader to discuss with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the major industrial relations collapse into which we appear to be steamrolling. The ASTI, the GRA, the AGSI, the INMO and the IMO are in difficulty with the Lansdowne Road agreement, regardless of whether they are inside or outside it. I have sat around the table with the executive committees of unions. Unless something is done, the Government runs the risk of the Lansdowne Road agreement collapsing. I agree with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and all of the Ministers who have publicly stated the only show in town is the Lansdowne Road agreement, but if side deals are done to halt industrial action, they will lead to the leapfrog syndrome which is creeping into industrial relations and to everybody looking for more. We must reopen the Lansdowne Road agreement and have only three weeks within which to do so if we want to put this industrial unrest to bed. To be fair, the Leader's party bears the responsibility for overheating expectations within the economy during the election campaign. The peace and harmony in industrial relations have been stalled, with some of the main unions having stepped outside the industrial relations process. Unless we get them back into the tent, not only will they leave the process but so, too, will other unions. That is my prediction. I ask the Leader to engage with Ministers on the need to get all of the unions back into the process. There is no need to be afraid. Trade unions have shown in the past that they are pragmatic and capable of doing a deal. It strikes me that members of the Fine Gael Party are not really labour people. They do not understand public service workers. Perhaps Fine Gael might engage with the Labour Party which helped it so much in the last Government on how to find its way in the public service and solve the problems therein.