Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail)

I extend a very warm welcome to Ms Maguire and her team for this very important discussion. I understand today is international peacekeeping day. I take this opportunity to thank sincerely the members of the Defence Forces for the work they have done and continue to do on behalf of the State. It is important that we say we are all extremely proud of the work they do.

I am conscious of those who may be tuning in and trying to follow and keep up with this debate. Up to this point, even the term "triple lock" gave a certain amount of security to people regarding when we sent our troops abroad. However, it is fair to say that it is dysfunctional. It has been 11 years-plus since we last deployed and got the Security Council to speak with one voice. The world today is a different place than it was a number of years back, unfortunately. If we are depending on the thumbs up, if you like, from people such as Mr. Putin, or the Chinese or Mr. Trump, then we will be waiting. What we replace this with is the big issue, and its replacement with something about which people can have confidence that we are not taking sides, as such. That is the difficult part. Going back to Mr. and Mrs. Bloggs tuning in and trying to follow this, they are looking for clarity on any future mechanism we might employ. That is not easy. It is difficult to get that.

It is fair to say that the current system clearly is not working. That has been outlined this morning. There is nothing on the horizon to say that will change anytime soon. Its replacement with something that will be acceptable to the vast majority is the challenge that we face. The officials have come forward today and some of the questions I was going to ask have already been answered. On Europe and getting a mandate from the Security Council, will that be difficult considering the way the world is going? I am thinking of the EU's response to what is going on in Gaza. Europe has been found out a little on that in that we are not speaking with one voice there. What kind of a scenario would develop where we would have the thumbs up, if I can use that expression, to send a peacekeeping number abroad? I am not 100% clear on the criteria that we have to follow in order to get the thumbs up to do that. What would the officials say to those who say that we are waving goodbye to our neutrality? Does what we are talking about this morning have anything at all whatsoever to do with our neutrality? Will they give us a little clarity on that?