Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

The attendance of the Taoiseach’s predecessor, Deputy Varadkar, at the Munich Security Conference, was significant. It was part of a drive that has been ongoing under Deputies Varadkar and Micheál Martin to erode whatever is left of neutrality and to display to the world that we are serious about this stuff, and that they should not worry because we will grow out of the immature neutrality.

My basic question is regarding whether the Taoiseach intends to continue in the same vein. Deputies Varadkar and Micheál Martin crossed a number of lines that had not previously been crossed. Yet, the one that Deputies Varadkar and Micheál Martin very much had in their sight is the question of the triple lock. The triple lock is the only legal provision that meant that a Government that clearly supported the US in its invasion of Iraq and facilitated the invasion of Iraq through its use of Shannon Airport, could not legally send ordinary Irish soldiers to go, fight and die in a war for oil and profit in the Middle East on behalf of the US.

A recent opinion poll very interestingly showed people's attitudes towards an EU army. The higher the income group a person is from, the more in favour they are of an EU army. The lower the income group a person is from, the less in favour they are of an EU army. Why is this the case? Quite obviously, it is because it is those who are in lower-income groups who will be disproportionately involved in going to fight in these wars. Is the Taoiseach still intending to proceed with this attempt to dismantle the triple lock, which protects some part of what is left of our neutrality?

See this speech in context