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

I acknowledge the presence of Roger Cole of the Peace and Neutrality Alliance. I had not seen him earlier. Roger and the PANA group have a very proud record of defending Irish neutrality.

The Minister of State said we cannot rely on our geographic isolation for our security. Nobody is suggesting that or, to my mind, has ever suggested it. Our neutrality is not just our greatest protection and defence; it is also our greatest weapon, to use that term, in being able to play a positive and constructive role in the world. Being neutral does not mean that we are better than anybody else but it means we are best-placed to do particular things, and we have had a proud record of doing those things. The triple lock underpins that. Regardless of whatever circumstances have changed, one circumstance has not changed. When Micheál Martin said the triple lock was a core component of Irish neutrality, he was right and he cannot walk away from that. The only argument it seems the Department has handed the Minister of State tonight is Russia, Russia, Russia. Did he ask the Department at all where Russia is preventing us from sending soldiers to that we want to go? Has he asked that question? If he has not, I suggest that he has come in here and read a prepared statement without any notion as to what it precisely means.

The Minister of State talks about valuing the UN Charter. The UN Charter is very clear. You cannot send troops abroad without a UN mandate. That is why it is called the UN Charter. If the Government wants to send troops abroad without a UN mandate, if it wants to change the law, if it wants to undermine the very basis of Irish neutrality, it should at least be honest and upfront and say that. The very fact that the Tánaiste has had to say that he might make it mandatory for Irish troops to serve in EU battle groups if they do not volunteer to do so just shows how out of scope and out of touch he is with our Defence Forces and with the wishes of the Irish people. Level of ambition 2 in the Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces sets out very clearly what is required in capital investment. This year, the Government undershot by €70 million, with our budget for next year also undershot by €70 million; hardly the sign of a Government intent on building up our Defence Forces. Nineteen months ago, the report of the commission on the future of the Defence Forces identified the implementation of the working time directive as the priority issue in order to address the retention and recruitment crisis within the Defence Forces. Where are we? It is still not implemented. This is not about supporting our Defence Forces, and the language in the Government's countermotion pretending that it is supporting them rings very hollow.

Here is the core point about foreign policy: when governments make decisions on foreign policy, they are not like decisions on domestic issues. They cannot be simply turned off on a whim. Sometimes decisions are so profound that they can have implications for years to come. That is particularly the case when it comes to participation in conflicts. One wrong decision by one Minister or one Government could destroy decades of proud Irish tradition in respect of neutrality in an instant.

That is why we need a framework within the Constitution that sets out the basis on which Governments can operate in respect of international conflicts. In our view, that framework should be based solely on the premise of being a force for conflict resolution as opposed to conflict participation. That is why we are willing to put that to the people and let them decide. That would set the parameters by which future Governments would operate. If a Government decided to be upfront and honest and say, "We want to send our troops somewhere outside the scope of that", it could go back to the people and seek their support. My guess, however, is that the Irish people have made their views very clear.

As for all the talk about sovereignty and the sovereign decisions of this House, I would hazard a guess that if all Members of this House were asked what we thought of the role of the Irish Defence Forces in the UNDOF peacekeeping mission in the Golan Heights, in Syria, the vast majority would say we are incredibly proud of that legacy. That legacy is coming to an end because of a decision by the Government to withdraw troops, and it is an absolute shame and a scandal. It is also a shame and a scandal that the Government did not even refer to that in its countermotion. That is not at the behest of the Russians or the Chinese; it is at the behest of a failed Fianna Fáil Party that is in government overseeing the decimation of our Defence Forces and now seeking to destroy what is left of Irish neutrality.

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