Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

On the back of what Deputy Farrell has said, the importance of her statement should not be lost on a committee of the Houses of the Oireachtas. Is it not the case that this is the first time we are entering into Irish law provisions that would apply if there was a foreign army in the State? It is not insignificant. The intentions of the Government in the future on neutrality is one thing, and we would all question how that has been eroded, but this section actually provides for circumstances where a foreign army in the State would be tax exempt in relation to VAT. It is a wild statement, and if it was suggested a couple of years ago that this was something that could be countenanced one would say: "You are daft and off your head, of course no Irish Government would be putting such a piece of text into Irish financial law." No harm to Deputy Matthews, but it would definitely not be one to be supported by the Green Party. I hear what the Minister has said on what the triggers would be for this section to apply, but nonetheless this text suggests that in certain circumstances this would apply. It is quite significant that we are even putting into Irish law preparations that would allow for provisions to apply if foreign armies were in our State.

There have been foreign armies on our island for the past 800 years but that is a different matter and it would take us all night to discuss that. What is being asked is significant and it should not be lost on anybody. There was a way to deal with this through a derogation but instead the Government has asked us to amend the law to allow for this type of circumstance, which nobody should do, especially those who value neutrality and who have a concern with the slippage in neutrality.

I mention the Minister's old buddy who is in with the heads of the vulture funds and banks, former Deputy, Brian Hayes. Does the Minister remember the document he brought out on behalf of Fine Gael called Beyond Neutrality? That was an official policy document at the time, which stated that we needed to go beyond neutrality. This is significant and on that basis this should be opposed.