Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

-----while providing the minimum permissible Dáil debate on those topics. The Tánaiste published this Bill prior to the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence having published its pre-legislative scrutiny report. He has no basis for excluding certain posts from membership of representative associations, and, as he dropped it as a legislative initiative, I ask him now to drop it as policy in its entirety. The legislation places new and unnecessary restrictions on the freedom of expression of members of the Defence Forces when it was never an issue. If the Tánaiste wishes to gag them, he should at least tell them why, or let them tell him why they do not understand the regulations they work under and have done for entire careers.

In conclusion, we are ready to work with the Tánaiste on the Bill and the broader challenges facing our Defence Forces. We will bring forward constructive amendments on Committee Stage to tackle what we see as the Bill’s deficiencies. However, we, the stakeholders and representatives of the committee, need the Tánaiste to listen - active listening. There should be no withholding, no imposing, no muzzling and absolutely no tinkering with the triple lock.

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