Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

I agree with Deputy Gibney that it is absolutely the Government's intention to bring about a change in terms of how we deploy our troops overseas. I am quite clear on that. Where we disagree is how we see that. I see it as entirely possible to do that while respecting being a militarily neutral country. I have spoken to many of my counterparts in countries that are militarily neutral, none of which have a triple lock in place. We have recently seen what can happen at a UN Security Council with a peacekeeping mission that has been extraordinarily successful in Lebanon and yet one permanent member of the Security Council can decide that all of a sudden it does not want it to continue.

At the outset I must say that I want to be collaborative on this. The committee on defence did a good piece of work on pre-legislative scrutiny. I am considering that and I will report to Government shortly in advance of bringing forward the full scheme. I am open to seeing how we can strengthen any legislation to provide reassurances around the role of the UN Charter. It is absolutely our intention that any mission Irish troops go on would be in keeping with the UN Charter, but that is different from us saying it must be in keeping with a UN Security Council resolution. I am certainly eager to see how we can explore that. I think Irish people are rightly proud of the role that members of the Defence Forces have played in peacekeeping missions right across the world. It is a record that dates back many decades and which has remained unbroken. The current triple lock system is broken, however. It is absolutely broken. We can talk in aspirational terms about hoping somebody fixes it one day, or that Russia changes its mind or China changes its mind or the United States of America becomes really interested in UN Security Council reform, but that is not the real world. That is not the world we are operating in. I do not believe that anybody who is not elected in this country should have a say in where any member of Óglaigh na hÉireann goes or does not go, and that is happening now. Men and women of Óglaigh na hÉireann will not be able to go to southern Lebanon as a result, in effect, of a decision taken by people outside of this jurisdiction. I wanted them to continue, and I am sure the Deputies did as well, but they cannot. We worked to try to get that into a good place relative to where it could have been, to avoid a cliff edge and the likes, but the reality is that mission will end in 2027. We do not wish it to end in 2027. We wanted it to continue but that is the effect of the UN Security Council veto and structure today.

I have consulted with lots of people in relation to this. Obviously with the command structure that works in the Defence Forces it is often difficult to have direct conversations with serving members of the Defence Forces but we do of course talk to their representative bodies on an ongoing basis. The Oireachtas committee heard from them as well and they have made submissions, which are captured in the report that came to me. I know that the men and women of Óglaigh na hÉireann are proud of serving overseas and I imagine they would rather the democratically elected Government and Parliament of this country decide where they go rather than anybody from any other country.

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