Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I agree that the biggest obstacle facing the Palestinian people is defending their territory against attack by Israeli army forces. The biggest challenge facing the people of Yemen is to defend themselves against the attack by the Saudi army. We are seeing similar aggressive attacks happening around the world, into which the description of the UN charter the Tánaiste just quoted would fall.

Does the Tánaiste not consider rifle training to be lethal rather than non-lethal? Bullets come out of rifles and they are intended to kill. They are built to kill and to cause serious damage to another human being. Is this not stretching our neutrality to a point of a flexibility that does not fit the bill? Are we in danger of seeing more and more of this? That is why we asked about the strategic vision for the armed forces. How far will this go in terms of breaching our neutrality? To that end, I and other Deputies in this House will be partaking in a demonstration to defend our neutrality on 4 November. I am sure the Tánaiste will not be there. How far does he think he can stretch the understanding of military neutrality when we are providing rifle training?

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