Tom Clonan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome our guests and thank them for coming in. I have a couple of conflicts of interest I have to declare. First, I served and soldiered with Declan Power in a couple of different guises. I think he has been one of the most powerful voices for the recognition of the service of our troops in the Congo. I think he has done outstanding public service in this regard. I do not think he gets enough credit for it in terms of organisational justice and natural justice. I take this opportunity to commend him for doing that. He has been a very powerful voice for those veterans and their families. Turning to Dr. Burke, he and I are trading letters in The Irish Times. Little did I know when I was in the Christian Brothers' school in Finglas that one day I would be exchanging letters in The Irish Times with a professor of war from UCD. I feel I have kind of arrived if I am doing that.

I am sorry that I missed the initial contributions. I was at the health committee and I must return there because we have representatives from Children's Health Ireland in. I did, however, read their submissions. As I said to both witnesses outside, I think we agree on about 99% of things. My concern about the triple lock is that it is not being amended, altered or modified. It is simply being removed. We will then have a situation where any future Government by a simple, whipped majority will be able to send any number of Irish troops anywhere in the world at any time. Now, whatever we might think about the current Government, this concerns any future Government and will give it this power. My concern is that if we are going to do away with the triple lock, there should be some other mechanism to try to replace it. Last week, I asked Professor Ray Murphy if he could think of an alternative and he said "No", and just keep it instead.

Mr. Power, Dr. Burke and I know what has happened to Ireland's defence and security over the last ten to 20 years. We have seen what has happened. I refer to the community of decision-makers and experts, political and in the Department. I do not include the members of the general staff in this context because they do not have the power to articulate their views. They are very much constrained by the Defence Acts and aspects of Defence Forces regulations that prohibit their public communication or communication with the media. The members of the general staff are very constrained in how they can advocate for the Defence Forces. Would Mr. Power and Dr. Burke, however, trust that community of decision-makers and experts that has the Defence Forces literally on their knees and has left Ireland provocatively weak and provocatively undefended? We are Europe's weakest link in terms of cyber, ground, maritime and air defence. Would the two witnesses trust that community of decision-makers and experts to make a competent decision as to where we should send our troops in the absence of the triple lock mechanism? If we do away with the triple lock, do the witnesses believe there should be some alternative safeguard? Do they have any ideas on what it might consist of or look like?