Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Gabh mo leithscéal, tá tinneas sa scornach agam agus tá mo ghuth lag. I will read from Fianna Fáil's manifesto in 2020 to the electorate in order to sit where they are sitting now.

All of its members signed up to this. Ireland will, "Fully maintain neutrality and the Triple Lock ... Fianna Fáil reaffirms its commitment to the retention of the triple lock of UN mandate or authorisation, Government and Dáil approval, prior to committing Defence Forces personnel on overseas service". It concludes: "We will fully maintain neutrality and the triple lock mechanism." Within the programme for Government that was then entered into, I assume with the insistence of Fianna Fáil and the Green Party, states with regard to overseas operations and international co-operation the Government will "ensure that all overseas operations will be conducted in line with our position of military neutrality and will be subject to a triple lock of UN, Government and Dáil Éireann approval". Now the Government wants to change that.

The Tánaiste should talk to us a bit about the Bill the Government will bring before the House soon but he also needs to explain to people what exactly it is the Government wants to do that it cannot already do with our Defence Forces inside the triple lock. Does the Government want to operate outside the UN Charter? It would appear this is exactly what the Government wants to do when the Tánaiste talks about needing to free our foreign policy from a commitment that insists the UN must pass a motion to allow us do that. The Tánaiste has said in the House previously and he will say the same thing again that Ireland will not be hamstrung by Russia, China or the UK, or for that matter the USA. However, we need to know if this is the case, where does he want to send Irish troops that he cannot send them under the direction of the UN Charter? Where does the Tánaiste actually want to send them?

Is it the case that the Government is falling in line with others across Europe who are giving us worrying signs that the war clouds are gathering? The Polish Prime Minister, Mr. Donald Tusk, has claimed that we are in a pre-war era. Admiral Rob Bauer, the chair of NATO's military committee, said: "We are preparing for war with Russia." The President of France, Mr. Emmanuel Macron believes that NATO should be sending troops into Ukraine. Will the Tánaiste please clarify for the public if he wants the sons and daughters of Irish - mostly working-class - people to be sent out to fight wars on behalf of the new colonial powers that are dominating the world now? For what exactly does the Government need to lift the triple lock? The Tánaiste should not tell me it is to pick up people who are stranded in Kabul or Somalia and cannot get out. That is not the case. When has the UN ever stopped Ireland being able to rescue its own citizens?

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