Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal East, Labour)

I apologise for being delayed. I was asking defence questions in the Dáil before coming to the committee. I have a couple of questions I will put first to Dr. Devine. She finished her opening statement by saying that arguably the Government has no legal right to destroy the triple lock. If the Government Bill goes through more or less unamended or in its presented form, how likely is it to be challenged in the courts? How strong a case would that be?

To the wider panel, do the witnesses believe it is possible to decouple a debate about investing in Ireland's Defence Forces, encompassing everything from pay and accommodation up to our national security in terms of undersea cables, from a debate about triple lock? To me everything seems to be conflated at the moment.