Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We would argue that the triple lock of the UN, the Government and the Dáil is really a double lock because the Government of the day obviously has a majority in the Dáil, as was the case today. It is really a UN and Government decision. The difficulty, as we have seen, is that not all UN Security Council resolutions are implemented consistently. It is certainly not consistent. The Government needs to add another lock. The Minister referred to the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality. We would argue that the committee is the fourth lock, or a quadruple lock. It could bring in experts on the region. We could do this quickly. We could convene in an emergency, even during the recess. The members could all come in, as that is their responsibility. We could invite experts on the war situation and relevant civil society groups and have a detailed, informed debate. They could make their presentations to the committee, the committee could formulate its opinion and submit it to the Government prior to these debates, which are basically people reading out statements about an issue as important as the safety of our troops. We will make this submission on the Green Paper when the opportunity arises over the recess. We would argue for strengthening the debate and discussion. We could do it as an emergency and get everyone together. However, we should make that happen before we carry out that deployment.

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