Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Gibney for this important and timely question. I have absolutely no doubt that as this issue goes through the Houses and draft legislation gets published there will quite rightly be a lot of debate and scrutiny. There should be time and space to get it right. I hope Deputy Gibney accepts my bona fides, because it is my genuine view, that I value Irish military neutrality. There is no proposal, or attempt by me to bring forward proposals, that in any way alter the neutral status of our State. We will have different views on the triple lock but I want to say this at the outset.

This is not a hidden reality as the programme for Government sets out in black and white that the Government intends to reform the triple lock legislation. This was also set out by the previous Government and by my predecessor. We also want to ensure that any amendment to legislation is in keeping with our values and our policy of military neutrality. I agree with Deputy Gibney that the people of the country feel very deeply about the importance of Irish military neutrality.

It is worth stating on the record what the triple lock means. The triple lock is a mechanism that sets out the conditions under which Irish troops may participate in overseas peace support operations. For troops to take part, the operation must be mandated by the United Nations, it must be approved by the Government, and it must be approved by Dáil Éireann by means of a resolution.

I believe a new process is clearly needed to replace the current system underpinning the deployment of Irish troops abroad, which effectively allows UN Security Council members to bind Ireland’s hands in its international engagement by a veto or, often, the threat of the use of a veto. The previous Government had approved the drafting of a general scheme of a Bill to amend the legislation on how Ireland deploys its troops overseas, in terms of overseas peacekeeping and in terms of deployment of Defence Force personnel overseas for purposes other than peacekeeping, such as for evacuation operations of Irish citizens abroad, something which, sadly, has become more frequent in the geopolitical world in which we live. Draft heads of legislation have been prepared. They have not yet been brought to the Government but I intend to do so in the month of March, at which stage they will be able to go through pre-legislative scrutiny.

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