Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

Irish neutrality has been one of the most important policies of this country for the past 100 years. There will be a protest outside the Dáil on 9 April at 6 p.m. I welcome everybody, from all political persuasions, who favour and support Irish neutrality, to join the protest.

Arrogance is a key aspect of this Government. The Government is using the infrastructure of the Oireachtas to push through, force through and beat through its objectives on various issues. Yesterday was an example of that. Today's debate about the triple lock is another example of it.

Irish neutrality has been a key policy for many years, because we have understood that being aligned to a military bloc is a dangerous thing for a small country. Small countries cannot influence the decisions of large military blocs, but we must adhere to their decisions. In other words, we cannot influence what wars they get involved in, but we have to send our young men and women to the war zones they get involved in.

There is a significant project within the European Union to change its nature to an EU defence union. There is no doubt about that. The steps the EU has taken so far, which include creating funds and loans for military hardware, are blurring the lines between the EU and a military bloc. It is, by definition, in a practical sense, transitioning military decisions towards the EU from the nation states. That is a big problem. Before she ran for the Presidency of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen made it one of her key election platforms that she would seek to build an EU military defence union.

The second point in regard to what is happening at the moment is that the EU has stated that countries using this budget must purchase their military hardware from the EU in the main or from countries that have signed up to a defence union or defence agreements with the European Union, thereby again transferring the competency of a military bloc to the European Union from nation states. That is an absolute disgrace.

There is no doubt that for a long period Fine Gael has been fully behind Ireland becoming involved in military blocs. In the past, when it was in opposition, Fianna Fáil stated the opposite but it now adheres to that. Two years ago, Micheál Martin stated he would support changes to EU treaties to allow the EU to make more efficient decisions on military issues. By "efficient", what they mean is less influence from the nation state in making those decisions.

Simon Harris has long stated that he wants to get rid of the triple lock. The Government says it wants to get rid of the triple lock because it affects Irish sovereignty. That is horse manure. Neutrality is an expression of Irish sovereignty.

The Government states the UN Security Council determines whether we get involved in UN peacekeeping treaties, but when there is opposition on the UN Security Council and we still get involved in the military action despite that opposition, we are, by default, aligning with a military bloc. That is the reason we decided not to get involved in those cases. That is the basis of it. The Government's intention is that Irish men and women will get involved in military actions on the basis of being against a significant military bloc in this country. I laugh at the Government because it talks about the need-----

See this speech in context