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

As Deputy Ó Fearghaíl indicated, it is remarkable that a complete and radical restructuring of the Permanent Defence Force and the Reserve Defence Force has taken place and that we are now being presented with a Green Paper on the future of those very forces. Perhaps there might be an opportunity to revisit the restructuring and our submission on the Green Paper will certainly contemplate that matter.

The issue on which I wish to focus is neutrality. As Deputy Ó Fearghaíl correctly pointed out, some years ago the Minister of State's party produced an alarming document, Beyond Neutrality, which was launched by Gay Mitchell MEP, who was then a Member of these Houses. Some of the comments made by the Minister Shatter in respect of our neutrality - these were reported in NATO Review and the interview in which he made them is available online - are alarming. I wish to make it clear to the Minister of State that we are very proud of our policy of neutrality. It is a positive form of neutrality which does not involve sitting on the fence but which does allow us to play our role. On a per-capita basis, this State is one of the best contributors of overseas aid. The influence this country has in proportion to its size is remarkable. We are proud of our peacekeepers who wear the blue helmets of the UN in regions across the globe. However, we do not want to be part of a growing NATO alliance. We do not need to be part of such an alliance. We can instead play to our strengths and intervene in human rights situation and act as advocates in the context of challenging regimes on their human rights records. We can also involve ourselves in the area of conflict resolution. The Government must clearly affirm our pride in our neutrality, particularly as it has been eroded somewhat as a result of what has happened at Shannon Airport in recent times and on foot of events surrounding the operation in Mali. Will the Minister of State outline his thoughts on that matter?

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