I welcome all our guests. I want to talk about aluminium. According to West Point and the institute for advanced studies, aluminium is the foundational metal of war and we are exporting almost 1 million tonnes of it to Russia. A total of 826,000 tonnes of alumina are being exported to Russia and we are the largest exporter to Russia. Since the war started in Ukraine - Putin's criminal enterprise and his unparalleled savagery and brutality in Ukraine - the increase has grown from 23%. A total of 68% of all alumina exports from Limerick are now going to Russia and are being sent to the RUSAL smelter in Krasnoyarsk, where they are manufacturing high-quality aluminium bars for the production of Shahed drones and other munitions missiles such as hypersonic missiles. The aluminium being supplied by Ireland is providing the propulsion systems, the delivery systems and parts of the projectiles that are killing hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian men, women and now civilians. This week, the Government announced that Ukrainians in Ireland who want to maintain their refugee status will have to show evidence of being self-supporting. Well, maybe they could go and work in the Aughinish Alumina plant and help to produce the ingredients for the very weapons that are destroying their country.

There is an account on X called Dan the Shadow Tanker Bonker. He is a concerned citizen who sets out in forensic detail the number of vessels - the shadow fleet, if you like - coming from Latvia, Lithuania and elsewhere and supplying this vital ingredient, this foundational metal of war, to the Russians. Where are we on this? It is a completely contradictory position to say, on the one hand, that we support Ukraine and at the same time facilitate the export of almost 1 billion tonnes of of a vital component for Russia's weapon systems.

I also want to talk about cluster munitions. The Guardian has reported that cluster munitions are being used in south Lebanon by the Israelis in Wadi Zibqin, Wadi Baruz and Wadi Deir Siryan, which are very close to where Irish troops are. Speaking of Limerick, the 128th Battalion comprising 300 or more of our young men and women is heading out to Lebanon for the final deployment to UNIFIL and Ireland is facilitating the transit of those very cluster munitions through our airspace out to Lebanon, where they could potentially injure or kill our troops. What other country in the EU would facilitate the onward transmission of weapons systems through its air domain to harm its own troops? Both in the maritime domain, therefore, with the export of this vital component for Russia's weapons systems, and in the air domain, with the transiting of weapons that could be used against our own troops, a complete lack of situational awareness around military defence and security is being shown on the part of the Irish Government. The Oireachtas Committee on Defence and National Security is not allowed to ask these questions. I am blue in the face asking for a debate. Can we bring in the Minister for Defence to explain why we as a security committee cannot ask the questions that need to be asked? This country is completely at sea when it comes to defence and security and the Government wants to get rid of the triple lock in the middle of this mess. We really need to have that debate and I hope the Leader can facilitate it with the Minister for Defence.