Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State might answer my question today, although he did not on the previous occasion I asked him in the House, about the number of warships that recently docked in the harbour of Cork. Was that with the imprimaturof the Government? The ships were from Canada and Great Britain, among other places. Why are they there and why are they being minded by a large number of gardaí? When anybody approaches them peacefully, not to damage a warship, by walking up to it and asking questions, armed and unarmed gardaí arrive.

The other question I would like the Minister of State to respond to is on whose authority the Taoiseach decided we are not a neutral country anymore. He stated a number of times that our neutrality is outdated and we can see that by his actions. On whose authority is he acting? We had no debate on that in this House. We had no plebiscite or referendum on the matter. As a buachaill óg, I always understood that our neutrality was sacrosanct. I was in the same party as the Minister of State. Has this all changed with the Taoiseach, Deputy Micheál Martin, in his quest to become a European Commissioner or whatever else in Europe? On whose authority can he sign up to funds for various causes, be it for uniforms, hats or training in minesweeping? We have not had a debate on the issue. The Taoiseach has not been authorised to do anything in that regard by this Parliament, certainly as far as I am aware. I am on the Business Committee and no debates have been put forward in that regard either.

I would like a response to those questions. On whose authority is the Taoiseach acting? He has delayed the handover now for two more days. We must sit on 17 December, despite what staff and everybody else might have to put up with almost in Christmas week, so that he can attend another global summit. He is intending to go out in a blaze of glory as a globalist.

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