Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Very good. Hopefully an Irish force commander would be somebody in charge of a force that would not be involved in active military deployment. What I am getting at here is Ireland's neutrality and our role as a neutral nation. That is really what I want to see. How does that work with active deployment? For example, if one of our forces was deployed in Afghanistan, could an Irish soldier be arrested by an American force commander? Is that what the Minister is talking about and is that part of this Bill?

The Minister says the Bill does not alter the current command structure in the Defence Forces but merely underpins current practice relating to day-to-day operational control of contingents of the Permanent Defence Force engaged in international operations. That is grand but what has been the modus operandito date? Have enough controls and safeguards been in place, to the satisfaction of the Dáil? We have been told that they are a pillar of our security and neutrality but I do not recall, in my time here, anything being put before the Dáil relating to that. We have to take it on the Minister or Government's whim or word that our neutrality is protected with everything that we do with the Defence Forces. Is that the case and what is happening in that regard? If one reads this Bill in conjunction with other legislation such as the Defence (Amendment) Act 1993 and the Defence (Amendment) Act 2006, this Bill governs the deployment of Irish troops in the past, according to what the Minister says, and will govern the deployment of Irish troops in the future which will be ongoing when the Bill comes into place.

What is happening with the deployment of our troops? They are already deployed with UN missions which is understandable and accepted in the House. They have also been deployed as part of NATO organisations, such as in Afghanistan. There had been six or so Irish soldiers in Kabul. Are they still there? That is obviously part of a NATO organisation or deployment. What is the situation with that and how does that impact on our neutrality as it exists and in the future? One then looks at the possibility of future deployments. In the past couple of years, we have seen our troops deployed in Mali, which is basically a former French colony. France has made it difficult for Mali to develop democratically since its independence but we are quite happy to send our troops out to Mali to participate in the programme there, which will further undermine our independence and traditional stance of neutrality, which is what I am getting at. It will not come before this House because no Government will bring it before the House to discuss it. We will wake up in a couple of years and realise that we are no longer neutral, and that we are involved in all these conflicts. It may include conflicts in Africa.

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