I raise a number of colliding issues that are of great urgency. One is the presence of a Russian spy ship, Yantar, not far from Irish waters. This is a surveillance vessel which is part of the Russian order of battle. It has been in Irish waters almost consistently for a number of years now. It is obvious, based on the circumstances, that it is mapping not just our subsea oceanic fibre optic cables that connect transatlantically and carry one third of European Union data between Ireland and the United States, but all the cables that connect continental Europe with the United States. These pass through Irish waters at some point where they drop off the continental shelf. It is clear that we do not have the capacity to sufficiently monitor or intercept or shadow these vessels, and that is through no fault of our Naval Service. It is because of the erosion of Óglaigh na hÉireann over the last number of years. It also brings to the fore the fact that we are not in a position to provide the basic, minimum level of security for our Presidency of the European Union.

I do not have a watch, Chair. I apologise; I do not know where I am on the time.

The Senator still has more time.

I will not take up the full three minutes but at least I have some idea.

All these issues around defence, security and intelligence are coming together. We are not in a position to generate intelligence meaningfully. An Garda Síochána is the primary intelligence agency in the State. It does not have the resources, national technical means, signals, etc. It just does not have them to proactively generate intelligence. All these things together are bringing forward a very profound question around defence and security.

Also, on the political horizon, we have a united Ireland. It is coming, ready or not and irrespective of what anybody has to say about it, it is going to happen in the next ten to 15 years. We need, therefore, to have a proper debate in this Chamber about how we prepare for that. In any all-island settlement, we are going to have to redesign public expenditure and reform, social protection, education and health, but we are also going to have to fundamentally redesign policing, the administration of justice, defence, intelligence and security. I do not believe that Óglaigh na hÉireann and An Garda Síochána will exist in 15 years' time. They will have been replaced by something like "Police Service Ireland" or "Defence Forces Ireland". Who knows?

These conversations have to take place. It is suggested that we are going to have legislation put through this House before Christmas to abolish the triple lock. It is all part of the same conversation. I am asking that we have a proper, calm and rational debate, like the statements on migration last night, about neutrality and what the future is for defence on this island.

I agree with the proposition put forward by my colleague, Senator Clonan.

I draw attention to some of the work that is already going on in relation to that, albeit at a lower level. I very much welcome the announcement by Queen’s University Belfast and Dundalk Institute of Technology, DkIT, yesterday of the creation of the first all-island university college, which is a very exciting proposition. As someone who lives not far from DkIT and who represents communities in that Border area, I am keen to ensure that they have access to the best opportunities on their doorstep. More importantly, this could be the first step towards a more consistent and accessible education system across the island. My party colleague, Deputy Ó Murchú, has raised this with the Taoiseach and he has indicated support from the Government for it. I very much look forward to this development.

That coincides with evidence given to us at a meeting of the Good Friday Agreement committee earlier this week by the all-Ireland congenital heart disease research programme and the All-Ireland Cancer Research Institute on some of the terrific work that has been going on at an all-Ireland level in the area of health. Those joint services have contributed to stopping people from having to go off the island for critical medical interventions. This is particularly the case for children with heart disease. Services on both sides of the Border have moved to a position where they are now world leading due to the collaboration that has been undertaken in the last ten to 15 years. Professor Frank Casey, who gave evidence to the committee, suggested that developments in congenital heart disease can be replicated in other areas of medicine. Last week in the North, the chair of the British Medical Association, BMA, the association for GPs, was arguing for an all-island GP service to become available. Discussions at the committee outlined the benefits of collaboration in research, including the economic benefits, in terms of protecting life but also improving quality of life and enabling people to continue to make an economic contribution. The case is very well made and has been underpinned by support from the shared island initiative, which is very welcome and beneficial. The evidence is clear, not just in terms of the health benefits but also in terms of the economic benefits across the island. What we really need to see is Departments coming together to provide a consistent approach across all areas of medicine that require this type of collaboration. I ask the Leader to raise this with the Minister for Health and to arrange a debate in this Chamber on collaboration between the Departments of health, North and South, in the interests of all of the people that we serve across this island, in terms of both the health and economic benefits.