Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I will go through the Chair. To my mind, we have a fundamental problem in the institutional structures. There have been mechanisms to try to resolve that. In the 1950s, the United States of America pushed through UN General Assembly Resolution 377, the uniting for peace resolution, as a means of circumventing possible Soviet vetoes. The measure states that in the event that the Security Council cannot maintain international peace, the matter can be taken up by the General Assembly. The procedure requires a two thirds majority by member states, regardless of population represented. That UN Resolution 377 has been used a dozen times, probably most famously initially in 1956 to solve the Suez crisis when the United States and others organised a two thirds majority of the UN General Assembly, calling for the withdrawal of British and French troops, which did happen. That mechanism, however, is not in truth effective. Its most recent use was immediately after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and there was such a Russian veto on the Security Council. While it passed by a two thirds majority of the General Assembly, it had no effect.

One thing we are looking at is something we would suggest should be considered as an element. Everything here must be based on the UN Charter. There is a specific section of the UN Charter, under chapter VIII, consisting of Articles 52 to 54, inclusive, that may give us a mechanism to meet our tradition of UN involvement but which gets over some of these veto difficulties. Article 52.1 of chapter VIII states, "Nothing in the present Charter precludes the existence of regional arrangements or agencies for dealing with such matters relating to the maintenance of international peace and security as are appropriate for regional action provided that such arrangements or agencies and their activities are consistent with the Purposes and Principles of the United Nations." Article 52.3 of chapter VIII states "The Security Council shall encourage the development of pacific settlement of local disputes through such regional arrangements or by such regional agencies either on the initiative of the states concerned or by reference from the Security Council." As for those regional arrangements or organisations, typically the European Union or the African Union would be examples and there are several within the UN process. We believe that may give us a mechanism to overcome what is an undemocratic problem we have within our UN institutional structures. It is in that tradition we would also recognise that the work we are doing, as I said earlier, such as in the Common Security and Defence Policy is, in effect, an agreement among EU states to improve their defences. It is not yielding our military neutrality. It is looking to co-ordinate in order that our troops, our sailors and our aviators have access to the best equipment and the best training and could share their expertise in peacekeeping, which we have in real depth.

One thing on which there is common agreement, and which I hear, regardless of one's view on how we approach this UN peacekeeping issue, is that we need to enhance the resources, strengths,and capabilities of our Defence Forces. The Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces report published last year provided a really clear clarion call that we need to invest in our radar, our shipping, our special operations and in a whole range, including our aviation sector. That absolutely should be our first priority. What Deputy Berry said is absolutely valid and correct. We do not stand in any position of strength if our Defence Forces have reduced by 25% in size in the past ten years, as the Deputy said, and if they are not equipped with the very best of technology, including to deal with cyber threats and the range of new threats that exist. I am confident that our Defence Forces, in the finest tradition in which they serve the State, will do so. It absolutely behoves us and it is correct to establish this consultative forum and in doing so, the Tánaiste is doing them and the State a favour. It is better for us to discuss this in an open and democratic constitutional way as we do, in here as well as within the forum that is to be established. We look forward to taking part. I look forward to the debate that returns to this House and, I presume, to the Seanad to consider what is heard from the forum. That would be a very important and useful exercise at this time, in a world of war and in a world where there are threats that range, as said by Deputy Bruton, from the ultimate climate threat to the more local and specific threats, as well as threats in unconventional warfare and disinformation. Deputy Lawless and I have been going back over this and we are aware that the defence from such threats and how we counter these threats require a much broader vision now than one that perhaps existed in the past. This forum and this debate is a very useful part of that process.

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