Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I am not sure if the forum proposed by the Taoiseach to deal with foreign policy, security and neutrality matters is part of this foresight and research group but I would like an answer to the question asked earlier by Deputy Paul Murphy. Why has the Taoiseach decided to abandon the original proposal to have a citizens' assembly made up of a representative but random group, which would be a cross-section of Irish society, and instead have this stakeholder forum where it would appear to me that the Government is looking to find justification for moving us away from neutrality, which I believe the Government wants us to do? Personally, I believe this is what the Biden visit was substantially about. It was about conditioning Irish public opinion to the idea that we should align ourselves with the US and with NATO. What guarantees will the Government give that this forum is not going to be as biased as that visit was in terms of the examination of issues it proposes to look at such as the international rules-based order? I find it extraordinary that we can use those phrases in the same sort of sentence as we welcome Joe Biden and applaud him. He is someone who supports apartheid in Israel. He is someone who sells weapons to the most brutal dictatorship in the world in Saudi Arabia. One can go through the list of brutal dictatorships. In this forum, are we going to examine the threat from US imperialism?

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