Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Tánaiste’s comments on sanctions are welcome and I hope we will hear more about that. He is right to commend the UN aid workers and the UN role in Gaza. But it is undermining of the UN to suggest that because of flaws in the UN that we should somehow abandon our triple lock. That was not the recommendation that was made by Professor Richardson or her forum. She acknowledged the matter was contested and her report had other recommendations that are vitally important, including more spending on the Defence Forces.

Senator Wall raised this in the Seanad yesterday, calling for urgency in implementing recommendations of the Commission on the Defence Forces such as access to the working time directive. Deputy Howlin reminded us that in the budget the increasing defence spending has soared to the dizzying heights of just 1% of GDP. We need to do much more to support our personnel in the Defence Forces and ensure they are well-equipped to engage in UN-mandated peacekeeping missions. It is entirely ill-conceived to start talking about dismantling or undermining the triple lock or undermining and critiquing the role of the United Nations, which, however flawed, is a global forum and agency for peace that was established after the carnage of the Second World War. We have a proud role and history in Ireland with the United Nations. It is wrong to talk about dismantling the triple lock and removing that requirement for a UN mandate just because most of us have an issue with Russia.

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