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

On 30 April last, the Government approved the proposal to draft the general scheme of a Bill to govern overseas deployments into the future. Work on drafting those proposals is well under way. This involves, where required, further consultation with the Office of the Attorney General and across Departments and key stakeholders.

I will be reverting to the Government shortly with the general scheme of the Bill. Once approved by the Government, the scheme will be referred for pre-legislative scrutiny consideration by the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence to determine if pre-legislative scrutiny is required. As this legislation advances, there will be ample opportunity for Members of the Oireachtas to scrutinise and debate its contents within the Dáil and Seanad.

It is important to emphasise that any legislative proposals will remain fully consistent with the principles of the UN Charter and international law. Any modification to the triple lock will continue to require Government and Dáil approval for the dispatch of Defence Forces personnel to take part in peacekeeping and similar missions and will do nothing to change Ireland’s traditional position of military neutrality, which is characterised by Ireland's non-participation in any military alliance.

That has been our consistent position for a considerable time. Amending the triple lock in no way undermines our military neutrality. I take issue with the way the question was even tabled. I do not accept the assertion about "the triple-lock neutrality protection of our neutrality" because our neutrality has always been defined in terms of our decision not to join NATO or, indeed, be part of a European mutual defence pact, which we are not.

See this speech in context