Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

As a member of the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade and chair of the Irish section of AWEPA, I have come in contact with parliamentarians and human rights groups from Latin America, Africa and Asia who hold Ireland in high regard due in no small part to the fact that we are not an imperial power or an aggressor. We are a neutral State, and we must do all we can to ensure our neutrality is not put at risk. Our neutrality goes back to Wolfe Tone and James Connolly, who was the first president of the Irish Neutrality League. A commonwealth guarantee for neutrality was proposed during the Treaty negotiations. We can see that commitment in public opinion and the tens of thousands of people who came out in 2003 to protest against the pending invasion of Iraq. A Red C poll conducted at that time on behalf of the Peace and Neutrality Alliance found that almost 80% of respondents were in agreement with the protestors, and I do not doubt a similar poll conducted today would have the same result.

It was disappointing, therefore, that when two Private Members' Bills on neutrality were introduced recently, we did not take the opportunity to secure our neutrality. The Minister, Deputy Coveney, described the debates on those Bills as an opportunity to restate our commitment to our longstanding policy of military neutrality and referred to our global island policy of military neutrality as a core element of Irish foreign policy. It is difficult to reconcile those sentiments with his unwillingness to go a further step by enshrining neutrality in our Constitution. He suggested that legislation was unnecessary but if we are committed to neutrality why is it not part of the Constitution? This should have been one of the topics discussed at the Constitutional Convention. In responding to Deputy Wallace's Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Peace and Neutrality) Bill 2014, the Minister of State at the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Sean Sherlock, suggested that the Hague Convention of 1907 should be regarded as a product of its time. I do not believe neutrality is a product of any particular time. There is no doubt that our neutrality is being undermined by the abuse of Shannon to transport combatants. There is an element of the Faustian pact in this arrangement, leading me to wonder what we are getting for the sale of our soul. I hope the White Paper provides a wide ranging and robust definition of neutrality.

I acknowledge the extent of the consultations that took place on the White Paper. However, defence policy should not be developed in isolation from other policy areas. Our peacekeeping forces are reputable and operate to high standards, in contrast to the terrible human rights abuses that have been perpetrated by peacekeeping forces from other countries. However, the efforts of members of the Defence Forces to defend vulnerable people must be supported by policies by the Departments of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, and Irish Aid. Given that Irish Aid and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade are already involved in providing humanitarian aid and dealing with human rights abuses, we need to ensure policy coherence with the Department of Defence.

The Minister referred to the Good Friday Agreement and the stability of the peace process. A group of Members of the Oireachtas regularly visit prisons in the North. We visited Maghaberry Prison two weeks ago to meet so-called dissidents, both loyalist and republican. Human rights abuses and injustices are being perpetrated against these people. Defence alone is not going to solve the problem but active engagement and dialogue will address the issues of injustice. There is little or no dialogue between those prisoners and anybody apart from our group.

I ask the Minster to provide more information on the involvement of the Defence Forces in tackling people smuggling and drug trafficking. I acknowledge what the Naval Service is doing in the Mediterranean but it should play a more proactive role in protecting Irish fishing waters.

I was interested in the employment support scheme for 18 to 24 year olds. From my own teaching days when bringing students to the Higher Options conference, the Defence Forces were a focus for so many young people. There was so much interest in them. That was at a time when there was no recruiting.

I have met many veterans and what strikes me is their sense of pride in the service they gave to their country. Equally, given the number of commemorative events to date, we have seen the way in which our Defence Forces have taken part in them. We are coming up to the 1916 centenary commemoration. The Rising was about two things, anti-imperialism and independence. The way forward for us is to have an independent foreign policy and Defence Forces which are neutral, which feeds into a coherent policy.

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