Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

As Deputy Brady said, Ireland has a long and proud tradition of neutrality. It has been at the heart of our foreign policy since the foundation of the State. One of the main reasons that we are held in high regard all over the world is our lack of a colonial past. Our reputation for impartiality is rooted in our military non-alignment.

Our neutrality has been continuously undermined by successive Fianna Fáil-led and Fine Gael-led Governments. Those same Governments neglected our Defence Forces, which have suffered greatly because of years of underinvestment. We have historically low levels of personnel, and the Defence Forces Reserve is suffering from the indifference of the Government. Morale is on the floor. It cannot go any lower. There has been no attempt to address this or to improve pay and conditions. It is about time the Defence Forces received the investment they deserve.

The investment should not be at the expense of our neutrality. We have the resurgence of discussions on neutrality in the wake of a war in Ukraine. We have seen the attitude, in true Churchillian style, to never let a good crisis go to waste. We must have a referendum on neutrality and there must be a reasonable debate to ensure that our citizens have the chance to hear the arguments for and against before making an informed choice. That debate has to include details of Ireland's involvement in Mali. The Defence Forces are being tainted by involvement in a country where atrocities have taken place and where the involvement of the Russian mercenary Wagner Group continues. This is the same group that entered Ukraine to attempt to assassinate President Zelenskyy and members of his Government.

It is a cynical move to include PESCO in this debate along with the reports on United Nations activities. The Government is attempting to obscure the erosion of Ireland's neutrality by attempting to present participation in PESCO as representing training opportunities for the Defence Forces.

I wish to mention the deployment of the Defence Forces to Dublin Airport to support security staff. If this is necessary, the Dublin Airport Authority, DAA, must repay the full cost to the State. Defence Forces personnel must receive their fair share from this debacle, which is entirely of the DAA's own making. This must be a last resort, and it must be a short-term measure. Yes, of course the airport must be kept open, but not at the expense of Defence Forces personnel coming from all over the country and upsetting their plans, to make up for poor management decisions.

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