Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State can shake his head and look as bewildered as he likes but here is the simple fact: the Government has no mandate to remove the triple lock. I accept the Minister of State’s party won more seats than we did in the general election but here is what its manifesto said: “Continue to protect and promote ... neutrality including sensible reform of the ‘Triple Lock’ legislation.” Removing the triple lock is not sensible reform. That is another mistruth Fianna Fáil has told the Irish people.

Fine Gael, admittedly, has talked for as long as it has been in existence about removing the triple lock. The Taoiseach challenged Fine Gael on it on many occasions but its own manifesto has nothing about removing the triple lock. The two parties, however, got into a room together, developed the programme for Government and decided they were going to remove the triple lock without any consultation with the Irish people. That is really what we are here to discuss today. I understand there is a debate; let us have it. Let us have a great national debate on the triple lock and the role it has played in our peacekeeping missions.

We are told it is outdated and inconvenient and slows things down but the real question is, for whom does it slow things down? It does not slow things down for the Irish people. It slows things down for a Government that wants to bypass consent. It slows it down for a defence establishment that wants to partake in the arms industry, the likes of which laid the seeds for the First World War and all the horrors that were unleashed into the 20th century and 21th century. The Government wants to do that by simple majority. We saw yesterday what its simple majority achieves. It is hoping the public will not notice but this is a significant move. When you seek to remove the United Nations from the decision to send Irish troops abroad, you do not get to do it by a simple majority. That is not democracy or consultation; it is tyranny of numbers – a rushed job from a Government that knows the people may not back it if it gives them a real choice. We are not talking about some obscure clause in an EU directive. We are talking about rewriting the conditions under which Ireland sends its sons and daughters into foreign theatres of conflict. We are talking about undermining the very principle that has kept Irish soldiers respected, protected and truly neutral in the eyes of the world.

The triple lock does not make peacekeeping impossible. How could it? We have the longest tradition of peacekeeping under the blue helmet. It makes it accountable. It ensures that every mission we join reflects the values we understand in this Republic - multilateralism, neutrality and humanitarian solidarity - and not the whim of a powerful ally or a strategic alliance that we never voted for.

Some in government and most Members of the House will say the UN is not perfect. Abandoning it does not fix it, however; it merely removes your moral anchor. All the fighter jets in the world that Simon Harris wants to buy will not give us the same protection as the legacy of Fianna Fáil’s own Frank Aiken, for example, when he developed the foundations of who we are on the world stage, but here we go kowtowing and being subservient. When you remove that anchor, where do you drift? We have seen countries chipping away at neutrality until it is unrecognisable, and we will not let that happen here. We will not let it happen without a fight. We want the people to simply have their say, and what is wrong with that? If the Government is confident this is the right path, and the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, seems confident it is, let the Government put the triple lock to the people. Hold a plebiscite, make the case and let the Irish people weigh the facts, the risk and the principles.

If they back the Government then it should go ahead, that can be the basis of its confidence, but it should not hide behind procedure or pretend that removing the triple lock and all that goes with it is just some minor administrative tweak. It is not. It is a deeply profound shift in how we see ourselves as peacekeepers, not power brokers. The Irish people deserve to be consulted on a change of this magnitude. This is about how we will send people, who will be predominantly working class men and women, into conflict zones. That requires a public consultation and debate. It requires people who did not include it in their manifestos but who nonetheless want to initiate it saying why they believe in this and to hold a plebiscite to get the consent of the people. Neutrality is not an inconvenience. It is a choice that needs to be protected. It needs the consent of the population of an independent republic. If the Government wants to change it all we ask is that it puts it to the people. We are bringing forward a motion on this today which purposely makes no assumptions. We understand the Government wants to initiate a debate but we think it is bigger than the simple majority the Government has; it needs the consent of the people. What are we afraid of in putting this to the people of Ireland?

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