Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left) | Oireachtas source

When LE Eithneand LE Niamhrescue migrants in these precarious waters, they should be regarded as Irish property and their entry into Ireland should be facilitated. However, the documents show that the Government supported the ending of the Mare Nostrum operation which, in turn, led to the deaths of thousands of people. That is not good enough. It is welcome that the Naval Service is now there, but I wish it was there to deal in a much more comprehensive way with refugees and the migrant crisis.

I wish to pick up on the point made by Deputy Peadar Tóibín about neutrality and the backdrop to the operations of the Defence Forces. In that sense I am a little concerned that included in the pedigree and CV of Rear Admiral Mellett is the fact that he is a distinguished graduate of the US naval war college on Rhode Island. I am deeply concerned about the close relationship between the US military and the Defence Forces in the context of the sincerely held belief of most citizens that we should be neutral. That co-operation is shown in the daily contact between the US defence attaché in Ireland and the Defence Forces. It is shown in particular by our facilitation of the US war machine in the repeated use of Shannon Airport which sees two US military landings every day, not to mention the troops, totalling 2.5 million, who have crossed the country on their way to causing devastation in the Middle East. Undoubtedly, it is a contributing factor to destabilisation around the globe and the development of ISIS. The new Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces should operate against a backdrop of enhanced and active neutrality. Unfortunately, however, the Government has seemed to creep in the opposite direction. These issues will be debated when we discuss the White Paper.

I wish the new Chief of Staff all the best and the retiring Chief of Staff a happy retirement. I hope the standard set in the facilitating of individuals at the top of the Defence Forces will also be exercised in the case of those in the middle and ordinary ranks, the men and women who give excellent service, both in Ireland and internationally, as part of peacekeeping operations. There is no point in patting them on the back and telling them they are doing a great job and then refusing to remunerate them appropriately to allow them and their families to have a decent standard of living.

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