Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 7, 43 and 51 together.

Last year's consultative forum on international security policy featured a well-informed discussion on the issue of UN peacekeeping and overseas deployments, which formed a central part of the publicly available chair's report. That report was presented to the Government on 17 October and a Dáil debate on the outcomes of the report was held on 22 November last.

Five contested areas were explored in the chair's report, which included the triple lock. The prevailing view, based on the discussions at the forum and the several hundred public submissions received, is that it should be reconsidered. As I set out in the Dáil on a number of occasions, a new process is clearly needed to replace the current system governing how we deploy our Defence Forces and we should no longer allow a system which effectively allows UN Security Council members to bind Ireland's hands in its international engagement.

As the Deputy is aware, under the United Nations Charter, the UN Security Council has primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. Extremely regrettably, however, no new peacekeeping missions have been approved by the UN Security Council since 2014. The five permanent members of the council can use their veto power to prevent the Security Council from taking decisions, including those related to the mandates of peacekeeping operations. It could be argued, as I said, that even the threat of the veto has impacted on new peacekeeping operations being proposed.

We are living in a new era in Europe and the world in which Ireland also faces significantly new security and defence challenges. We, too, must consider how best to respond. Given the changing nature of international conflict, it is appropriate and necessary at this time to amend existing legislation. As legislators, we have a duty to ensure that our legislation is fully up to date and fit for purpose, which will thereby allow us to dispatch the Defence Forces overseas to respond to situations where UN Security Council members are preventing agreement on a vital peacekeeping operation or to support crisis management evacuation operations involving our citizens.

In addition to modifying the triple lock, it is also intended to amend provisions relating to the deployment of Defence Forces personnel overseas to provide for non-combatant evacuation operations to support Irish citizens. The changes proposed will allow us to respond to crisis situations with more agility.

We are all agreed that Ireland's policy of military neutrality remains a very important strand of our independent foreign policy, informing our active approach to peace support or operations, crisis management, conflict resolution and peacebuilding. Let there be no doubt in this regard. The proposed amendments to this legislation remain fully consistent with the principles of the UN Charter and international law and in no way affect Ireland's policy of military neutrality. The proposed legislative changes are not about Ireland turning its back on UN peacekeeping. Ireland will remain fully committed to the United Nations. The purpose of these modifications is to reinforce Ireland's ability to pursue an independent foreign policy by removing the power of the UN Security Council's permanent members to veto our national sovereign decisions.

With regard to a timeframe, on 30 April last, the Government approved a proposal to draft a general scheme of a Bill to govern overseas deployments into the future. Work on drafting those legislative proposals is under way and this will involve, where required, further consultation with the Office of the Attorney General and other key Government Departments and stakeholders. It is proposed to revert to the Government in June 2024 with the general scheme of the Bill seeking approval to publish the scheme.

See this speech in context