Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Dr. Burke and Mr. Power are very welcome. To make my position clear before I start, the triple lock is a red herring in the Defence Forces' current context and we should be discussing the other aspects of the Bill. The Chair said we will get to those, and I accept that, but they are far more important when we talk about the impact of courts martial, the power to suspend personnel, etc. We would not have the wherewithal to send people on missions even if we got rid of the triple lock in the morning. That is why I say it is a red herring. Furthermore, I am very happy Dr. Burke adverted to some of the language being used with respect to academics in this area. It seriously undermines the actual project we are trying to deal with.

I believe in a neutral Ireland. We were not around in 1907 when the Hague Convention was founded, but since Ireland became a republic, at no stage have we ever registered in the Hague our neutrality. At the start of the Second World War when there still was a Government in the Netherlands, we did not register as a neutral state. Therefore, I do not believe we are neutral. I would like to see an honourable, neutral State capable of defending itself.

I have three questions for the witnesses. First, is Ireland a neutral country in the context of customary international law? If the witnesses believe it is, what are the tangible elements that lead to any assertion of Ireland being a neutral country, other than the Government stating it is, without any such assertion being contested with empirical evidence?

Second, if they believe Ireland is a neutral state, why is it that Austria and Switzerland, and Finland and Sweden until recently, pursued their neutrality in a polar opposite manner to Ireland's alleged neutrality?

Third, Article 2 of the Hague Convention reads: “Belligerents are forbidden to move troops or convoys of either ammunition or war supplies across the territory of neutral Power.” Ireland's borders are on land, at sea and in the air, and we have legislation before the House that seeks to amend the Air Navigation and Transport Act to prevent the transit of weapons through Irish airspace. We do not know what is up there, and even if we did, we could not get up there to see it. In the witnesses’ view, is this absolute tokenism for the sake of a headline? If we cannot do anything about it, why are we wasting our time even thinking about it?

I will leave it at that for the moment. I will have further questions later.