Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Tánaiste announced a consultative forum last week. He and his cabals of NGOs are getting away with so much, and he wants to set up another in the form of a citizens' assembly. Is citizens' assembly é an Teach seo. We are elected to a citizens' assembly. The Tánaiste is subverting democracy by trying to do what he is doing instead of backing up our Army.

I was here one Thursday evening some years ago when the Tánaiste came in here and slipped in and out. He changed his stance on the repeal of the eighth amendment, in spite of the fact that 90% of his party had voted to keep it. He undermined it fundamentally against his party's wishes. His party's wishes are very clear on neutrality. Most of his party's members I meet are totally opposed to this tinkering with our neutrality.

What happened last week in Kilworth is happening regularly. Our Army base there, an FCA base for years, was being used by soldiers from Ukraine and Ireland as part of a readiness operation for NATO. Just think about it. What is going on here? The Tánaiste is undermining the fundamental basis of our neutrality. The sooner he is out of office, the better for this country and his people.

We have been waiting for years to get support for soldiers. Morale is on the ground. As I said last week, the navy does great work but, God help us, it is so run down and depleted and has so few ships and personnel. When we question this, we are told everything is coming in the future. A €30 million fund has been announced. Last week the Minister said he was going to build boats, buy planes and do everything with the €30 million. However, all he wants is a smoke screen – smoke and daggers that he can dance around – and to prance around the world and European stages, telling the people how great he is. You would think he was the Messiah going around. He wants to be involved in wars, the WEF, the WHO and everything bar this Parliament, to which he is elected. He fought long enough to become Taoiseach. He was facing the prospect of being the only Fianna Fáil leader not to be Taoiseach but he crawled and gave away everything to the Greens. Now he wants to wreck our neutrality. The sooner this man is taken out of office, the better. I know he wants a job in Europe – it is probably lined up already. The sooner, the better.

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