Mr. Barry Andrews:

I really appreciate the opportunity to give a European perspective on this very valuable discussion. I congratulate the Cathaoirleach on her election as Chair. It is always a pleasure to be back among former colleagues and friends from the political world.

In April 2022, I published a paper entitled "Irish Neutrality in a Changing Europe". It was two months after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia. I was trying to take stock of developments that were taking place prior to the invasion of Ukraine and where Ireland was in these circumstances. Of course, the events of February 2022 hastened considerations along these lines. We could see very quickly that not only the EU but its individual member states took dramatically new security positions, including Denmark joining the Common Security and Defence Policy, CSDP, for the first time and the famous Zeitenwende speech by former German Chancellor Olaf Scholz where for the first time, Germany would take a more proactive approach in defence globally. We all know that Finland and Sweden have joined NATO and this is repeated in neutral countries such as Austria and Switzerland, a non-EU country. We saw very dramatic changes in the way people were addressing the dramatic impact of Russia's new approach to European security. Russia now prefers ideas of spheres of influence. It caused many of the neighbouring countries, particularly the Baltic states, to introduce extraordinary increases in their defence spending as a percentage of their GNP.

We in Ireland have been moving forward a bit more slowly. We saw the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces and the consultative forum on international security. In my paper, I wrote that the triple lock system was no longer fit for purpose. I simply questioned as did many of the other witnesses today why control over where we deploy our peacekeepers was placed in the hands of autocratic leaders in Russia and China. We must bear in mind that one of those leaders is the subject of an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court, ICC. It seemed absurd that we would outsource decisions about our foreign policy and more specifically the deployment of our troops overseas to people of that calibre. We also know that the other three members are members of NATO so whichever way one looked at these issues, it seemed that it was time for reform of this issue.

There have been reviews in Ireland and progress has been made towards level of ambition 2, which is welcome and not before time. The consultative forum provided the opportunity for stakeholders to have a much closer look at these issues and gather as much information as possible from people. The forum was not decisive about this issue, which is why it is important that we have these discussions at a parliamentary level.

Let me absolutely clear that I am a staunch supporter of international law and international courts such as the ICC and the ICJ. I have spent much of my time in the European Parliament dealing with issues like that, including last night, where we had an event defending the International Criminal Court against sanctions imposed by the US. I think it is correct to be sceptical of the UN system. For some time, the Security Council has not been effective, which, as members are aware, has had an impact on peacekeeping missions. There have been none since 2014. While there are 11 ongoing peacekeeping missions, it seems that there is a chilling effect. Even António Guterres has said that the Security Council is dysfunctional and paralysed. We know that the future of UNIFIL in Lebanon is under threat from the US potentially vetoing its renewal in August. I visited Camp Shamrock as part of my preparation for the paper I published in 2022. I saw the hardship of that posting. We have seen in more recent times the literal threats to the lives of the men and women in uniform representing Ireland in southern Lebanon. When one looks at the conflicts around the world today, it is clear that there are many areas where a UN Security Council resolution on a peacekeeping force is extremely unlikely to be adopted.

Finally, to address those concerns of those who do not have faith in the Government to make the correct decisions around deployment, I agree with Dr. Cathal Berry’s approach that this committee should be tasked with scrutiny powers ahead of any proposed new mission, especially regarding Ireland’s obligations under international law, as well as the publication of the Attorney General’s formal advice. I further agree with the idea that any Dáil approval could also be subject to a review mechanism, be that an annual one or in the case of the withdrawal of a deployment.

In conclusion, no other country in the world uses our triple lock mechanism. Instead of allowing Dáil Éireann and our democratically elected Government to take decisions, we have abdicated our foreign policy to two members of NATO, two authoritarian governments and a Donald Trump led-US. I look forward to members' questions and reiterate my appreciation of the invitation.