Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

-----at which there is no veto. The Tánaiste has not answered the question of what mission he wants the Defence Forces to participate in that the triple lock has prevented. He has not given us an outline of what impact it would have on the reputation of Ireland and Irish troops were we to participate in a military mission that does not have UN approval. That has not been answered and I would hazard a guess that putting our troops and credibility on the line in the way the Tánaiste has outlined would be a very new and grave risk for us to take.

What the Tánaiste has announced today is a fundamental shift in Ireland's foreign policy. It would radically undermine Irish neutrality as we know it and every single time they have been asked the people have shown Irish neutrality is something they value. The triple lock was a key, pivotal argument for those who advocated agreement to multiple EU treaty referendums, especially those on the Lisbon and Nice Treaties. I could produce for the Tánaiste all the commentary from the Governments of the day on how the triple lock provided a key protection to address any concerns people had in respect of those treaties' impact on Irish neutrality. In light of that I put it to him that any proposal the Government wishes to bring forward must also be put to the people. Will the Government have-----

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