Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change) | Oireachtas source

I thank People Before Profit-Solidarity for bringing this Private Members' Bill to the Dáil this morning to seek a referendum to enshrine neutrality in our Constitution. Nobody in this Chamber or in the Seanad will openly argue that we should abandon our traditional neutrality and join NATO because they do not have to. Structures for an EU military alliance have been carefully and steadily put in place. An EU army separate from and able to act independently of NATO but closely linked to it is the objective, and our Defence Forces are already part of this project. We already have 850 military personnel in the EU rapid reaction force. We have signed up to permanent structured co-operation, PESCO. PESCO was established on the basis of Article 42.7 of the Lisbon treaty. People will remember that the treaty was rejected in a referendum. An important fact of that rejection was due to fears it would lead to an EU army. After being given an opt-out from Article 42.7, the treaty was passed in a second vote. Despite the opt-out, Governments have opted into PESCO and the common European defence policy. Now the latest development is the strategic compass, which calls for increased military spending and research, building the rapid deployment capacity to 5,000 strong brigades and giving the EU strategic military autonomy while co-operating with NATO.

The involvement in these military alliances, which is what they are, gives rise to serious ambiguity as to what our neutrality actually means now. The programme for Government uses the term “active military neutrality”. What does that mean? Why is it in the programme for Government? Was the Tánaiste being serious when he questioned the need for a UN sanction given the fact that certain countries sit on the Security Council? Is the issue of the triple lock mechanism being looked at in government?

Our neutrality is not enshrined in any law, in any treaty or in the Constitution. It is time to change the situation and do away with the ambiguity and this Bill will do that.

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